‘Sunbathing topless is just so unfashionable’
Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, are suing after a French magazine published topless photos of the duchess. Photo: Reuters
Marcelle d’Argy Smith. Photo: Chris Sant FournierKate Middleton should not have gone topless as doing so “was so very unfashionable”, the former editor of Cosmopolitan believes.
Speaking in her elegant, top-floor Sliema apartment, the award-winning Marcelle d’Argy Smith said the Duchess of Cambridge was rather naive to do so when she could be snapped by paparazzi or even staff at her holiday home in France.
Last week, the French edition of Closer magazine published photos of the future queen sunbathing topless, prompting the royal couple to take the rare step of suing.
The Irish Daily Star was the next to print them and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were yesterday seeking an injunction to stop further publication.
Drawing on years of experience of writing and editing, Ms d’Argy Smith says “the whole of life needs editing”. The duchess needs to self-edit because she knows she is one of the world’s most photographed women.
“Don’t do it, Kate,” she quipped.
Ms d’Argy Smith, a former antiques dealer and current journalism lecturer at London’s City University, lives by her self-editing maxim and exudes a refined tastefulness.
“Your wardrobe needs editing, your home needs editing, so you need to learn to think in an edited way because people talk an awful lot of junk and tragically write a lot of junk too.”
Writing is her passion and her love of teaching and meeting new people is behind the five-week writing course she is about to conduct in Malta, called Structure and Style. It starts this week.
“Writing and life have great parallels,” she reflects, adding that people who have very structured lives often lack style and are boring.
Someone who has style often lacks structure, but ideally you have both.
The basis of good writing, she believes, is the power of words – and their careful and considered use is most beautiful.
She learned a rather expensive lesson about this. “We were sitting around the office brainstorming about a feature on being nice and adorable to men and treating them like puppies because men always respond to that, when we decided to title the article on the cover as ‘Treat Your Man Like a Dog’.
“I was accused of being the most misogynist, man-hating woman, but we thought people treat their dogs wonderfully.”
“Dog” seemed to be a good word one day but it cost her 50,000 copies the next.
Gender and sexuality play a very interesting role in putting pen to paper, she notes.
“Year after year I turn out creative, gay men when teaching.
“Straight guys go for news and don’t think about the writing but perhaps the word creative puts them off and reminds them about having children,” she adds with a chuckle.
“Men run the whole gamut. They are either completely, emotionally autistic or the most brilliant, wonderfully creative people.
“Women are somewhere in the middle.”
For more information about the course, Ms d’Argy Smith can be e-mailed at marcelle@dargysmith.com.
Popular Stories
Old buses, drivers to return
Former Judge Ray Pace found dead
Updated: Minister apologises for...
Three new Nationalist MPs elected –...
Where’s Everybody staff is given notice
Updated - Director of Prisons submits...
Update 3 - Woman trapped as car crashes...
Revealed...the face of a Maltese woman...
PL reacts as PN labels Franco Debono's...
In Discussion
Old buses, drivers to return
Updated: Minister apologises for...
PL reacts as PN labels Franco Debono's...
Updated - Director of Prisons submits...
Enemalta seeking minimum five year gas...
Protected birds shot and trapped as...
Mario de Marco, Zammit Dimech concede,...
PN postpones salaries as financial...
Updated - PM's offer to Opposition MPs...
57 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Joseph Brincat
Sep 18th 2012, 11:53
I would have expected that Ms Marcelle d’Argy Smith should have condemned this piece of dirty work by some paparazzi but being the former editor of Cosmopolitan, journalistically speaking or writing in this regard, thought otherwise. Can she please tell us what she understands by or give us her definition of privacy in one's own home?
Robert Agius
Sep 18th 2012, 08:08
‘Sunbathing topless is just so unfashionable’....what a marvelous piece of moral philosophy!! The whole world is a better place now! Oh! and remember to watch lame TV and buy crappy magazines to make sure of what's in and what's out....this week!!
John Azzopoardi
Sep 18th 2012, 01:23
well, I for one do not know what the fuss is all about. She took her top off, got pictured and it got posted in the newspaper. If she or the royal family didn't want these pictures posted, she should not have gone topless. Period.
Pauline Abela
Sep 18th 2012, 10:20
She was on private property! READ 'PRIVATE'.
S Scerri
Sep 19th 2012, 01:18
Pauline, nowhere is private any more. The house was close enough to the road to set up a telephoto lens. Even if that didn't happen, there's always staff around ready to make a killing with the sale of a few photos. As John Azzopardi said, "If she or the royal family didn't want these pictures posted, she should not have gone topless. Period."
jay bee
Sep 17th 2012, 23:44
marcell its time for another facelift and that is fashionable ps nice brow
Ms.D. Galea
Sep 17th 2012, 21:21
Bunch of sicko peeping Toms!
When will the paparazzi be happy? When Kate ends up like poor Diana?
Alfred J. McEwen
Sep 18th 2012, 15:39
Alfred J. McEwen
@ Ms. D . Galea
I fully agree with you the paparazzi who snapped her are a bunch of morons.
B Attard
Sep 17th 2012, 18:15
Where the hell is the data protection??? Leave this woman alone and in peace enjoying some quality time with her husband.
These Paparazzi should all be prosecuted. They are all parasites making money from famous people.Once Maradona did give them a lesson... maybe it's time for another one.
C. Bonnici
Sep 17th 2012, 20:05
A matter of Data Protection? I don't think so. A matter of privacy? Yes, definitely!
Kevin Cassar
Sep 17th 2012, 20:33
Are you serious? Parasites making money from famous people?. Perhaps you think that making money from regular/poor people (what the monarchy actually does) is better. All celebrities complain about not having privacy in their lives, but they never complain about the money they get from simply being in the spotlight. If it's privacy they want, then the solution is very simple and easy to obtain - give up the celebrity life.
Andy Farrugia
Sep 17th 2012, 17:47
And trust some Italians to be so tasteless and morbid. Alfonso Signorini, editor of CHI, actually commissioned a plastic surgeon to go over the photos to check whether Princess Kate had been "touched". Absolutely reprehensible.
Andy Farrugia
Sep 17th 2012, 17:00
It is particularly disgusting and sickening to note the hypocritical tendencies of a number of commenters, mainly ladies (?) , who try to rationalise and justify voyeurism, snooping and invasion of privacy through the use of hi-tech powered lenses. Shame!
Julie Taylor
Sep 17th 2012, 16:38
I'm sorry but with all the perks that one gets as future Queen of England, keeping your top on for the rest of your life is a small price to pay.....
Pauline Abela
Sep 18th 2012, 10:22
Get real. Anyone should be entitled to their privacy when not working in a public capacity.
J Cauchi
Sep 17th 2012, 16:16
I think that going out with such a messy hair style is also not fashionable, right?
A M Bonello
Sep 17th 2012, 14:47
Why is it unfashionable?
Is it unfashionable because you dictated fashion?
Pule' Carmel
Sep 17th 2012, 14:36
If Kate should not go around topless in her private house in France. President Obama should not go around the white house sitting with his feet resting on the antique furniture with his soles facing all those who talk to him. Absolutely disgusting of Presidet Obama. That furniture does not belong to him, it is state property. As I always said, common people take three generations to realize the deportment expected of the top people representing any country.
Pule' Carmel
Sep 17th 2012, 15:28
Enter Google,
Photos of President Obama With His Feet on the Resolute Desk-Truth
K. Vella II
Sep 17th 2012, 20:52
"common people take three generations to realize the deportment expected of the top people representing any country"
Some may call this classist or whatever, but I think this is an interesting observation.
Pauline Abela
Sep 18th 2012, 10:24
Do you realise that what is considered rude in one culture is not necessarily so in another?
Pule' Carmel
Sep 18th 2012, 14:44
I was told that a Maltese delegation once went to China for top Political discussions and one of the Maltese Members of the delegation sat with his legs crosses one above the other such that the sole of his shoe faced an important high level Chinese Politician. This sole showing in Chinese circles is treated as the ultimate rudeness one can be to another person. I was told that the Chinese person left the room and all the Maltese delegation wondered why!!
As I always said,common people take three generations to realize the deportment expected of the top people representing any country.
Pule' Carmel
Sep 17th 2012, 14:31
Actually the real story went like this. There were these pair of clothmakers who went around France selling the best cloth they ever made. But word went around that this cloth was visible to clever and intelligent people and only they could see the beauty of such a cloth, and ignorant people could not appreciate such cloth which appeared invisible to them. Anyway, these two clothmakers managed to persuade Kate that she would look real stunning in this dress, even better than she looked in her low cut dress worn at Malaysia described as Low-Cut Alexander McQueen Gown.
As one confessor said to one of my colleagues," Never try to understand the mind of a woman!"
Elvin Muscat
Sep 17th 2012, 14:24
I so agree, very unfashionable for you, please don't go topless. But for someone in her young age and in the privacy of her own surrounding who are you to judge. So I guess you would want them to shower fully clothed. Get real.
Pamela Hansen
Sep 17th 2012, 14:23
Come on... this was just a young bride having fun with her husband. It is our voyeuristic tendencies that need editing.
Vince Cachia
Sep 17th 2012, 16:06
They could have had all the fun inside NOT ON THE BALCONY...OPEN TO ALL TO PHOTOGRAPH!!!
Chris Gatt
Sep 17th 2012, 17:02
@Vince Cachia: Open to all????!!! Hardly! this was a private estate . The photographer needed a damn good telephoto lens to get some very blurry photos. What a lot of silly people there are out there. LOL
Mr Evan Camilleri
Sep 17th 2012, 13:56
What's more ridiculous about this is not that Kate went topless.... i don't care what she does! What ridiculous is that we're living in the 21st century and a kind of monarchy still exists in the so called civilized world!
Charles Cremona
Sep 17th 2012, 14:39
To you it might seem ridiculous but to millions of people around the world from Australia to Canada the Queen is head of state and that is how they want things to stay.
James Tyrrell
Sep 17th 2012, 13:52
What a totally stupid statement! Try and understand that there is a difference between the Duchess in public and the Duchess in private. Of course she is aware when she is in the public gaze and dresses and behaves accordingly but they are still a young couple just married and as such they deserve a bit of privacy. I'm sick of these scum photographers who crawl around in bushes with lenses the length of station wagons trying to get photographs of people trying to relax.
Astrid Vella
Sep 17th 2012, 16:38
You may be sick of scum photographers James, and I'm sure they are too, but the fact is that they exist, and acting all outraged and trying to sue after the event is so naive and inconsiderate towards their family and future subjects.
I agree that what they do behind four walls is their matter, but the TV news coverage showed that the terrace where they sat can be seen from the motorway, besides which members of staff might be prepared to risk their jobs to take photos worth millions.
James Tyrrell
Sep 17th 2012, 23:57
With all due respect I'm one of their future subjects and I hope to hell they sue the papers into oblivion. How come they never photograph me when I'm lying in the back garden of my house?
Yes the terrace where they sat could be seen from the motorway, about a mile away if you had a highly expensive specialist lens to do the job. I have seen photographs taken from satellites where you could practically read the print on a newspaper so anyone can be spied on. That does not deter from the fact that we all deserve a certain degree of privacy from scum with cameras.
W Cassar
Sep 17th 2012, 13:50
Sunbathing topless is just so unfashionable... not for men lol
Francis Farrugia
Sep 17th 2012, 13:45
Kate Middleton was not sunbathing on an open beach but within the boundary walls of a villa with walls reaching a height of 15 courses. SO THAT WAS PRIVATE. How come that this Pathetic lady wants to say what one can do in his private house or villa. The papparazzi have to earn a living but not at the cost of publishing photos or write articles about the private life of other people, unless they have their consent.
Mary Pace
Sep 17th 2012, 14:04
She was sunbathing on a balcony above the the walls of a height of 15 courses. These royals want to have the cake and eat it. The queen was never caught in such embarrassing circumstances only some of her children and grand children seem to get in such mishaps. They must remember that they are Royals and not cheap film stars and that their privacy may be limited only up to their private chambers.
Pauline Busuttil
Sep 17th 2012, 14:33
@ Francis Farrugia, you are right to say that this lady is so PATHETIC. Who is she to tell what Kate Middleton do and not. Is she jeolous of Kate???
Pauline Abela
Sep 18th 2012, 10:28
@ Mary Pace - the queen was young in a different era. Please do not compare apples with oranges. Everyone should be entitled to privacy.
Mr l Azzopardi
Sep 17th 2012, 13:35
what a sad lady!
A Bezzina
Sep 17th 2012, 13:22
Oh give me a break!! An ex-editor of Cosmopolitan telling Kate Middleton what she should or should not do!!! Pathetic ...
Angie Schembri
Sep 17th 2012, 12:11
She is just a young woman enjoying a well deserved break with her husband in private. Paparazzi are vampires for money.....look what happend to Princess Di and Michael Jackson....
As for fashion or not....it's just a personal choice!!
C. Bonnici
Sep 17th 2012, 11:58
I tend to disagree. The basis of good writing [..] is the power of thought, NOT words. But, I do wish I had the time to attend for the writing course too.
J Micallef
Sep 17th 2012, 15:46
Me too!
Johann Aquilina
Sep 17th 2012, 11:49
Is your face feasible? What is the gossip for a topless person??? Go to Ghadira during summer and you have plenty to check...
Leave persons alone.
Isola Danti
Sep 17th 2012, 11:48
Subject aside, Cosmopolitan used to be much more interesting for it's thought provoking articles during Ms. Marcelle d’Argy Smith's time. In recent years it seemed to have lost its intellect and character and downgraded to an ordinary fashion, advertising magazine.
Mark Shaw
Sep 17th 2012, 11:35
Can i ask?..what's fashion got to do with going "topless"? maybe she wasn't making a "fashion" statement but merely being comfortable (something we ALL do) in "her" private time which was invaded by the likes of the press for "tittle tattle" an "gossip" which seems to be the main staple of trashy magazine press!
vincent a galea
Sep 17th 2012, 11:09
Cannot understand all this fuss...
Firstly, the body of the Princess of Cambridge is no different from any other female body;
Seondly, prominent people cannot have the cake and eat it (as the saying goes!). They live in a fish bowl! Indeed they mainly demand media attention!! They thrive in it !! They love it !!
AND THEY GET IT...... !!!
Mary Pace
Sep 17th 2012, 12:41
Agreed 100%!
Claudia Pecorella
Sep 17th 2012, 13:30
my thoughts exactly!! I cannot understand what goes through some people just because women decide to go topless. Ok so some might find it disgusted and look away or stare hard at the person but than why all the full! Women are women are women being big. small and so on!
Ramon Casha
Sep 17th 2012, 11:07
Unfashionable?? Since when is sunbathing - topless or otherwise - a matter of fashion?
Jessica Smith
Sep 17th 2012, 10:38
She appeared in the Queens' new clothes.
Ilene Springer
Sep 17th 2012, 10:12
Hi Ms. d'Argy Smith--I totally agree with you that Kate should not have been sunbathing topless outside. She is or should be fully aware that she is fair game for anyone savvy enough to get such photos. In some unconscious way, I think she may have wanted to be photographed. After all, she was a lingerie model (and student) when she met Prince William.
By the way, I used to write as a freelance writer for Cosmopolitan back in the US about 20 years ago. Good luck with your course. I'll be in touch--Ilene Springer, author of The Diary of An American Expatriate (AUK, London, 2012)
Andy Farrugia
Sep 17th 2012, 12:29
What an astoundingly idiotic comment....and this from a lady about another lady! I bet Freud would have been proud of you! What utter bilge! The Duchess is fully entitled to her privacy! Whatever next: paparazzi hovering in high tech helicopters over the Palace grounds?
Joseph Micallef
Sep 17th 2012, 14:47
The whole point is Ms.Springer...SHE WAS NOT SUNBATHING TOPLESS OUTSIDE!
phyllis butler
Sep 17th 2012, 16:56
Ms. Springer - As far as I know it, the Duchess was not a lingerie model but modelled a bikini with a transparent top over it for Charity at the very prestigious English University she attended. To say that she (the future Queen of Great Britain) may have wanted to be photographed ''subconsciously'' is very far-fetched in my opinion.
Pauline Abela
Sep 18th 2012, 10:32
Oh Gawd, a mutual back-slapping exercise!
When on private business anyone should be entitled to some P-R-I-V-A-C-Y.
Wanting to share one's body with one's husband does not mean wanting to share one's body with a few billion people!
jason cassar
Sep 17th 2012, 09:38
Dear Marcelle etc etc ,
if swimming topless is unfashionable filling a magazine with topless photos is tragic !
Joseph Micallef
Sep 17th 2012, 14:48
Exactly!
Please choose the reason of your report below: