was “ready to go to war with the press” after paparazzi secretly photographed Kate Middleton topless while sunbathing on vacation.
The claim comes from Russell Myers, royal editor of the Daily Mirror and author of the new book “William and Catherine,” which examines how the Prince and Princess of Wales have weathered the storms that have rocked the House of Windsor.Â
It became a lengthy legal battle for the couple â one that began in 2012 â and was a fight the future king was determined to pursue relentlessly and see through to the very end to protect his wife.
“William has always had a different relationship with the press, not necessarily as public as his brother,” Myers explained to Fox News Digital. “Certainly, in his formative years, William was very clear that he didnt want to go back to the really destructive period of his parents relationship, which had a huge effect on him and Harry.”
“The breakdown of Charles and Dianas marriage was played out in the media on an almost daily basis,” said Myers. “As I say in the book, he [met] with a group of national journalists who were ready to go on an engagement the night before. He walked into a pub where they were all just having a drink after an evening meal and said to them, We are not going to go down the same road.”
“I think he felt that he not only needed to protect his own mental health and his own well-being, but also in that sense,” Myers continued.
WATCH: PRINCE WILLIAM VOWED TO SHIELD KATE MIDDLETON FROM MEDIA SCRUTINY: AUTHOR
“Its very clear from what he said, I will stop at nothing to protect my family, and you have to realize this.’ Even before he had children, Williams real sense of urgency to try to make the media understand his views on that was very apparent.”
In 2012, a year after their wedding, William and Kate decided to take a mini-break in the They were unwinding before embarking on a nine-day tour of Southeast Asia as part of Queen Elizabeth IIs Diamond Jubilee. Myers wrote that they stayed at the Château dAutet, a 19th-century hunting lodge in the Luberon hills of Provence.
While sunbathing at the property, Kate didnt 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 couples “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.
Myers told Fox News Digital that from the very beginning, Kate was relentlessly targeted by the press long . But this time, it crossed a line â and everything changed.
“When youre an outsider coming into an institution such as the royal family, as weve seen time and time again, it can be a very daunting prospect,” he explained. “I think for Catherine, the worlds media was very keen to know who she was, who the next possible girlfriend of Prince William was.”
“There was an intense pressure,” he shared. “And when the relationship started getting more serious, there were obviously questions about who this new woman in Williams life could be, who the next Princess of Wales or future queen could be as well.
“It was an uncomfortable situation to be in for Catherine. She was from a very small village in the center of England. She really hadnt been exposed to any level of celebrity or the crazy attention that the British monarchy has the world over.”
According to Myers book, William, horrified by “the utter violation,” immediately made “frantic” calls to his father, then-Prince Charles, and . 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
