Britain’s Prince William has vowed wife Duchess Catherine will not suffer the same press intrusion as his late mother did.

The Duke of Cambridge was left furious after pictures of his spouse sunbathing topless while holidaying in a private chateau in France were published in French magazine Closer and he now wants to do all he can to protect Catherine’s privacy.

Those close to him say he doesn’t want the duchess – who also goes by her maiden name of Kate Middleton – to be followed by photographers everywhere she goes like Princess Diana was, as he believes the paparazzi contributed to her death in a Paris car crash in 1997.

Vivienne Parry – a close friend of Diana’s – told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “He lost his mother to the foreign photographers, he will do absolutely everything in his power to prevent the same thing happening to Kate.

“Don’t imagine for a minute that William, who puts a huge amount of effort into protecting Kate, will take this lying down. He made sure she was surrounded with a great team and they had time alone together in Anglesey to help her adapt to the storm ahead.

“And now here is a magazine, owned by that ‘bunga-bunga’ sleazeball Silvio Berlusconi piercing the heart of the citadel he has erected to protect his wife. There might have been a time when photographers could get away with pictures of the royal family because they never took legal action, but William is different. He will protect Kate. It is his duty above all to her but also to the memory of his mother.”

After the pictures were published William and Catherine released a statement saying they “hugely saddened” their privacy had been invaded.