Pippa Middleton photos leak: Police investigating after thousands of images are 'stolen from iCloud account'

Around 3,000 photos belonging to the Duchess of Cambridge's sister, including pictures of wedding dresses and the royal children, are throught to have been accessed

Pippa Middleton and James Matthews (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Scotland Yard is investigating the hacking of Pippa Middleton’s private photos.

A team of specialist police officers is investigating after it emerged that as many as 3,000 of Ms Middleton’s private photographs may have been hacked from her private iCloud account.

The photos leaked from the Duchess of Cambridge's sister's account are thought to include images of the royal children, as well as wedding dresses and private parties.

In a statement issued by her lawyers, Ms Middleton confirmed her account had been unlawfully accessed. Her representatives have confirmed that the hackers – whose identities remain unknown – are trying to sell the private photographs to publications.

Both the Sun and Daily Mail newspapers reported that an anonymous seller had offered the pictures to media organisations via encrypted messaging service WhatsApp.

The Sun said it had been approached by someone using a pseudonym and asking for £50,000 within 48 hours.

Specialist officers at Scotland Yard are investigating after receiving a report of the hacking on Friday night.

A spokesman for the Met said: “No arrests have been made. Inquiries are ongoing.”

Ms Middleton, 33, is an author and columnist. She has penned a number of party-planning and cookery books, including Celebrate and Heartfelt.

She and her fiance, James Matthews, have asked for their privacy to be respected in light of the news.

In July, Ms Middleton announced her engagement to Mr Matthews, 41, a hedge fund manager. They are expected to marry next year.

News of the hack of Ms Middleton’s photos came as it emerged that details of more than 500 million people were compromised in an unrelated hack on Yahoo. The company said a "state-sponsored" actor hacked into its network in 2014 and stole details. Stolen information included names, email addresses, telephone numbers and dates of birth. The company said payment data and bank account information were not stolen.

In 2014 a major hack saw the personal photographs of a number of high-profile figures stolen after their iCloud accounts were compromised. Victims of the hack included actress Jennifer Lawrence.