(Credit: Northern and Shell, screenshot)

As we wrote, Prince William and Kate Middleton sued the French magazine Closer for running the photos, which the couple called a “”grotesque and unjustifiable invasion of privacy.”   The UK edition of the magazine slammed the publication as “intrusive and offensive.”

Since the pair filed their lawsuit Sept. 14, Irish newspaper the Daily Star also published the photos to criticism by the palace, CNN reported.

CNN noted that the Daily Star’s editor Mike O’Kane defended the photos because “She’s not the future queen of Ireland so really the only place this is causing fury seems to be in the UK.”  Further,  CNN added that “the pictures are not being published in the Northern Ireland edition.”

The Guardian noted that the Daily Star’s parent company Northern and Shell weighed in on the publication, which it called “a grotesque invasion of their privacy.” The statement reads:

“We abhor the decision of the Irish Daily Star to publish these intrusive pictures of the duke and duchess which we, like St James’s Palace, believe to be a grotesque invasion of their privacy.  We are consulting with our lawyers as a matter of urgency over what we believe to be a serious breach of their contract.”

Meanwhile, an Italian magazine named Chi said it will be running the photos as it’s not “the first ones to publish,” Gossip Cop reported.  Chi reportedly defended the planned publication because it said the pictures aren’t “morbid or damaging.”  Gossip Cop noted that Chi is “owned by Silvio Berlusconi’s publishing house Mondadori.”

Chi‘s editor-in-chief Alfonso Signorini commented on the photos, saying that “It is a story worth publishing in an extraordinary edition because it shows in a natural light the everyday life of a very famous contemporary young couple in love,” CNN reported.

We’ve written to Ireland’s press council asking if it has received any complaints over the Irish Daily Star’s publication of the photos and will update with any response.

UPDATE: 9/17/2012: 10:42 AM EST: Ireland’s Press Ombudsman John Horgan responded to iMediaEthics’ inquiry with the following Sept. 17 press release statement:

“I have had a number of queries about the publication in the Irish Daily Star of photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge.

“As the Irish Daily Star is a member publication of the Press Council of Ireland, any complaint lodged by, on behalf of, or with the permission of the Duchess of Cambridge will be fully considered by this Office.

“No such complaints have been received.”