Two people have been charged over topless photos of the Kate Middleton that appeared on the front of a French magazine.

Those involved are understood to be the head of a major publishing group and a photographer.

The snaps were printed in two separate publications in September.

The photos caused a furore when they were published and sparked a criminal probe into how they were obtained

Judges in the Paris suburb of Nanterre charged the photographer with "invasion of privacy" for taking photos of the former Kate Middleton in a swimsuit while she was on holiday in the south of France with her husband.

Those shots were published in La Provence. But the most intimate images showing the Duchess of Cambridge topless and having sun cream applied by William were published in Closer.

Judges are still investigating who took those photos.

Ernesto Mauri, the chief executive of Mondadori, was also charged with "invasion of privacy" for allowing the topless shots to be published.

French authorities promptly banned Closer from any further publication or resale of the topless pictures after they first emerged.