To turn this pretty simplistic situation into one of, "women will be punished unless the feed into the lies of the patriarchy" is ridiculous.
Well, now, I do disagree with you. Nor was I discussing 'the lies of the patriarchy': no, the burden of my song was against the misrepresentations (a subtle distinction) of the patriarchy and bemoaning the fact that some of its helpmeets are women.
Despite my personal admiration for the Duchess, I believe that women everywhere should be willling to speak up and protest the objectification and belitting of others wherever it rears its ugly head. Here, we saw the unacceptable face of bullying, as Catherine J so rightly pointed out.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion, of course, but that some can't see this outrage as indicative of the ingrained degrading attitude towards women, or if they do, do not regard it as a problem and socially divisive, shows that there is a long way to go before genuine equality of the sexes is the norm. Philosophically speaking, the arguments for, in my opinion, are not too far removed from those supporting equality in marriage between loving couples, irrespective of gender. Surely, it's time and enough to expect that all people really do have equal rights, even, as in this case, a Princess!
So far as being topless is 'not classy'.....I can only respond that for some, knowledge of some royals' behaviour in the past is very limited, and was not always restricted to one's husband as the only audience, for that matter. The difference is that today the snoops have telephoto lenses and camera-fitted drones and other electronic devices to enhance their illegal spying.
Nor do I believe that royalty, at least this couple of royals, want to make us believe that they are different from us. Au contraire! The Duke and Duchess have been at pains to mix and match with everyone they've met; to happily join in, with gusto, all local celebrations and carnivals; to dress modestly for the most part; to live, so far as possible, the ordinary life of a newly wedded couple and enjoy a simple domesticity; to value and continue with pre-marriage friends and connections; to keep the Middleton family central to their daily lives, against established expectations, etc.
As for the Duke's one day being Head of the Church of England, I take it that it's regarded as a greater impediment that his wife appeared topless before him, rather than, say, his father marrying a divorced woman whose husband was stilll living?