Kate Middleton Topless Photos Bound for Italy

An Italian gossip magazine will publish the famous Kate Middleton topless photos ... further inflaming the Royals.

Chi, owned by the same company that publishes French mag Closer (the first to publish the pics), will run a 26-page spread Monday. The headline -- "The Queen is Nude."

Editor Alfonso Signorni says he doesn't fear legal action -- Closer has already been sued -- because the photos are now part of public domain, adding, "I don't see anything morbid or damaging in them. Chi pays attention to respecting people's dignity. I don't think they hurt Kate's image."