Magazine to publish pregnant Kate Middleton in bikini, stirs row

According to News.com.au, Woman's Day will run the controversial shots in Monday's edition, the Herald Sun reported.

The Italian gossip magazine Chi has already published the photographs, splashing images of the Duchess in a bright blue bikini and sporting a clear baby bump on the cover.

Woman's Day editor Fiona Connolly said she had no qualms about running the photographs, claiming they were taken by a fellow holiday maker on the Caribbean island of Mustique rather than a paparazzo.

However, royal officials have reacted with "disappointment" after a magazine published paparazzi shots of the Duchess.

St. James's Palace has slammed the photos as a "clear breach of the couple's right to privacy."

"We are disappointed that photographs of the Duke and Duchess on a private holiday look likely to be published overseas", a spokesman said.

But Connolly said Australians did not view the royals family as a protected species like the Brits did.