Britons back naked prince

Murdoch tweets support for Prince Harry over nude photos

UK: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch came to the defence of Britain’s Prince Harry on Sunday, urging critics to “give him a break” over photographs of him frolicking naked in a Las Vegas hotel suite.

Australian-born Murdoch posted a message of support on his Twitter page after The Sun, his top-selling British tabloid, printed the images of 27-year-old Harry in defiance of orders from the royal family.

“Prince Harry. Give him a break,” wrote Murdoch, 81. “He may be on the public payroll one way or another, but the public loves him, even to enjoy Las Vegas.” The images of the third in line to the throne, cavorting nude with a mystery woman during a game of “strip billiards”, first surfaced Wednesday on the US gossip website TMZ before going viral on the Internet.

The Sun initially respected the royal family’s request that British newspapers did not print the grainy camera-phone images, but broke ranks on Friday, claiming it did so in defence of press freedom.

AFP

UK: More than two-thirds of adults in Britain thought Prince Harry cavorting naked with women at a Las Vegas party was acceptable behaviour, according to a poll out Sunday.

The YouGov survey in The Sunday Times newspaper found that 68 percent thought the third in line to the throne’s antics were acceptable for a young, single man having fun on a private holiday, with 22 percent saying it was not. Some 75 percent still had a positive view of the 27-year-old army helicopter pilot.

While the two images of Harry are widely available on the Internet and abroad, only The Sun newspaper has published them in Britain, saying it was striking a blow for press freedom.

Some 61 percent thought media baron Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid was wrong to do so, with 25 percent saying Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper had been right to print them.

YouGov sampled 1,731 adults on Thursday and Friday for the poll on whether Harry’s behaviour was acceptable and 694 adults on Friday for the poll on The Sun publishing the images.

AFP