Magazine vows to print pics of pregnant, bikini-clad Kate Middleton

LONDON (CNN) -- The Duchess of Cambridge has been photographed furtively once again: An Italian magazine announced Tuesday it will publish vacation photos of the pregnant royal and her baby bump, despite her objection.

The magazine, Chi, said Tuesday that it will print "extraordinary images of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their dream holiday in the Caribbean" in the issue coming out Wednesday.

"The future mum, now in her fourth month of pregnancy, wears a small bikini that enhances her now visible bump," the magazine said.

St. James's Palace -- which represents Catherine, her husband, Prince William, and his brother, Harry -- responded with dismay.

"We are disappointed that photographs of the Duke and Duchess on a private holiday look likely to be published overseas," a palace representative said. "This is a clear breach of the couple's right to privacy."

It was not immediately clear when or exactly where the pictures were taken. British and U.S. media -- including People, like CNN a division of Time Warner -- reported that the royal couple recently vacationed on the secluded Caribbean isle of Mustique.

The Duchess, whose maiden name is Kate Middleton, has kept a low profile since the announcement in December she is set to give birth to her first child in July. Images showing any evidence of a baby bump have been hard to come by in that time.

The Chi photos, though, are not her first encounter with paparazzi -- which tracked her during her long courtship with William, their engagement and their time since April 2011 as a married couple.

The highest-profile example came in September 2012, when the French magazine Closer ran photographs of Catherine privately sunbathing topless while on a holiday with William in France.

Besides that magazine, some of those photos also were published in the Irish Daily Star newspaper and Chi, which according to its parent company Mondadori is a women's magazine with an average circulation of more than 218,000 and a readership well beyond that.

Soon after the photos came out, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took legal action against Closer -- which was fined by a French court and ordered not to distribute the edition in print or online. It was also told to hand over the photos to the royals.