An Italian gossip magazine has provoked outcry by publishing intimate pictures of the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge in a bikini while on holiday in the Caribbean.

Gossip rag Chi - owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi- printed the photographs of William and Kate during their recent stay on the paradise island of Mustique .

On a website publicising Chi, Kate is pictured on the magazine's front cover in a blue bikini, which shows her slight baby bump , striding knee-high through the sea above the headline 'the belly grows'.

A second image shows the Duke, wearing a pair of shorts, with his left arm around his wife as they walk along a beach, under the headline 'Kate and William honeymoon in three'.

The magazine, which hits newsstands tomorrow, also gives details of the luxury £19,000-a-week luxury villa the couple are staying in.

It is believed that the royal couple are still holidaying on Mustique and were reportedly joined by Kate's family, parents Carole and Michael Middleton and her siblings James and Pippa.

St James's Palace would not comment on whether William had been informed about the issue or if they were considering any form of legal action against the magazine.

But a spokesman condemned the magazine for breaching the royal couple's privacy.

He said: 'We are disappointed that photographs.