Royal photo “hacker” arrested

British police say they have arrested a suspect following reports that 3,000 photographs had been hacked from Pippa Middleton, sister-in-law of Prince William, and were being touted for sale.

Read more: Prince William and Duchess Catherine targeted by hackers

The pictures were reported by The Guardian and Daily Mirror newspapers to have been stolen from Ms Middleton’s iCloud account and included shots of her sister Catherine, as well as her and William’s children Prince George, 3, and Princess Charlotte.

Someone had been in touch with media via the encrypted messaging service, WhatsApp, to offer them for sale, the reports added.

The Sun said it had been asked for more than $85,000 for the shots.

Scotland Yard police headquarters said they had received a report on Friday (local time) concerning the alleged hacking of a personal iCloud account and specialist officers were investigating.

On Saturday, a 35-year-old man was arrested at an address in Northamptonshire, central England, they said.

“He was arrested on suspicion of a Computer Misuse Act offence and is being taken into custody at south London police station,” a statement said.

Ms Middleton, 33, is the younger sister of Duchess Catherine and became a household name after acting as bridesmaid at her sister’s wedding to Prince William in 2011.

She is engaged to James Matthews and the couple are expected to get married next year. The allegedly hacked photos also reportedly included shots of her own wedding preparations.

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