Sarah Ferguson Has "Total Empathy" for Kate Middleton After Topless Photo Scandal

USMagazine, Monday, September 17, 2012, 9:15am (PDT)

The Duchess of York and the Duchess of Cambridge have more than one thing in common.

After topless photos of Kate Middleton were published in French magazine Closer last week, Sarah Ferguson says she knows exactly how Prince William's wife is feeling -- she too had a topless photo scandal.

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"I have total empathy and sympathy for her. I have been there and know what it's like," she said Sunday via Daily Mail. "Everyone is entitled to privacy. It is a devastating invasion of one's personal inner space. It is deplorable, abhorrent and despicable."

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After announcing her separation from Prince Andrew on March 19, 1992, the British tabloid Daily Mirror published photos of Fergie sunbathing topless with John Bryan, an American financial manager, in August 1992. The Duke and Duchess announced their decision to divorce in May 1996.

"She is a beautiful young woman doing a great job for the country," Fergie added about Middleton. "Why should she be stripped of that moment with her husband?"

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Despite the photo scandal, Middleton and Prince William, both 30, have continued their Diamond Jubilee Tour of Southeast Asia with smiles on their faces. But their legal teams back home are finalizing plans to file a criminal complaint over the pics appearing in Closer and other publications.

"We can confirm that a criminal complaint has been made to the French Prosecution Department today," a Clarence House rep said on Monday. "The complaint concerns the taking of photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge whilst on holiday and the publication of those photographs in breach of their privacy."

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Sarah Ferguson Has "Total Empathy" for Kate Middleton After Topless Photo Scandal