Another Scandal Rocks the Royal Family

A French tabloid, "Closer" has published topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge. I think that this is first and foremost a horrible invasion of privacy and just goes to show how unscrupulous the media can be.

However, I do have to say that I am surprised that Kate would go topless, where she is such a sought-after figure and so much in the public eye. I think that she has the right to be able to go topless, don't get me wrong, but I just don't think it was a smart move - given the media hype that swarms around her.

It's unfortunate that the royals can't live completely "normal" lives, hard as they might try, but it goes with the job and they are very fortunate in many other ways - so somehow I feel like that should help to balance things out. And Kate, not born into royalty, should have been aware what she was getting herself into.

When reading one of the numerous articles on this unfortunate topic, I was more shocked (and somewhat dismayed) to read that Kate has been known to smoke, and has recently been spotted by this same tabloid to smoke while on her holiday in France!

Kate??? Smoke????!!! Am I the only one who is not aware of this??? Needless to say that I quickly went searching the internet for articles and photo evidence, and sadly I found both.

Some articles site note that she was spotted with cigarettes after her break-up from William, a detour from her usual "squeaky clean" image, while most recent reports talk about the impending wedding stress that might have caused her to pick up a pack again.

It's unclear to me if this was ever a true habit or if it was done on occassion, in order to curb her appetite - as another article pointed out - or for other reasons stated above. Ironic that one who seems so healthy and athletic would smoke.

Regardless, I find it all a bit sad. Naively (and I guess in some sort of fantastical way) I looked as Kate as someone who was similar to me, as far as I could tell, and now that opinon seems to be less strong in the wake of all of this new information. I looked up to her for her "squeaky clean" image, which is harder and harder to come by these days, in 2012.

Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-455703/Has-losing-Wills-driven-Kate-smoking.html