Today (September 18, 2012), a French court will decide whether or not Closer magazine will be permitted to publish images of Kate Middleton topless on its website and tablet applications. The images have already caused a furore, when they were published in its print publication last week. The images - which appear to have been taken with a photographic lens and without the knowledge or consent of Kate or her husband Prince William - have also been published by the Italian magazine Chi. According to Associated Press, both Closer and Chi are published by Mondador, the Italian publishing house owned by Silvio Berlusconi. The court in Nanterre will decide, at noon today, whether or not to uphold the request to stop the magazine from publishing the Kate Middleton photos further. Closer published 14 pictures of Kate topless and their lawyer Aurelien Hamelle told the court that the royal couple had been sharing a "healthy and profoundly intimate" moment when their privacy was betrayed and the pictures were taken. Hamelle is reportedly seeking damages of ?5,000 ($6,550) from Closer, as well as an injunction, preventing further publication of the snaps. He also requested that the magazine be fined ?10,000 ($13,100) for every day that the injunction is not respected. In addition to this, he has asked for ?100,000 ($131,000) if the photographs are sold on, either in France or abroad. So far, no UK publication has chosen to publish the photos of Kate. The images of the Duchess showed her relaxing at a private villa in Provence, in southern France.