Kate Middleton sunbathing photos: New book sheds light on Prince William's reaction

A new royal book on Prince William and Kate Middleton has revealed that the Prince of Wales was "ready to go to war with the press" after paparazzi secretly photographed his wife  topless while sunbathing on vacation.

The claim has been made by Russell Myers, royal editor of the Daily Mirror and author of the new book "William and Catherine". 

It became a lengthy legal battle for the couple  and was a fight the future king was determined to pursue relentlessly and see through to the very end to protect his wife, wrote the author referring to the 2012 controversy.

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Myers said, "William has always had a different relationship with the press, not necessarily as public as his brother." 

He said, "Certainly, in his formative years, William was very clear that he didn’t want to go back to the really destructive period of his parents’ relationship, which had a huge effect on him and Harry."

In 2012, a year after their wedding, William and Kate decided to take a mini-break in the South of France. They were unwinding before embarking on a nine-day tour of Southeast Asia as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. Myers wrote that they stayed at the Château d’Autet, a 19th-century hunting lodge in the Luberon hills of Provence.

While sunbathing at the property, Kate didn’t know that about a mile away, a paparazzo was lurking in the shadows, capturing the private moment with a long-range lens camera. Soon after, Myers wrote, the couple’s "world came crashing down." They were informed that Closer, a French magazine, had published the intrusive photographs. One former aide told Myers it was "as if time stood still" for them.

According to Myers’ book, William, horrified by "the utter violation," immediately made "frantic" calls to his father, then-Prince Charles, and grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. 

The prince informed them that not only was he immediately releasing a public statement, but he would sue the magazine, taking the legal action "all the way" over the "monstrous behavior.".

Days later, the Italian magazine Chi published the images, as well as the Irish version of the British Daily Star.

In 2017, a judge ordered the outlet to pay the couple $117,892.55 in damages, far less than the roughly $1.7 million they had sought,  and fined two staffers a combined $106,077.60, Vogue.com reported. Kensington Palace was "pleased" by the ruling, the outlet reported.

The ruling was no doubt a warning to other tabloids that William will always protect Kate, no matter the cost.