Prince Harry 'groping' pictures - three years old

Aug 16, 2006, 12:49 GMT

Photographs published of Britain's Prince Harry groping a girl in a nightclub have been revealed to be three years old.

Britain's The Sun newspaper had claimed the pictures of Harry and his brother Prince William were taken in trendy London nightclub Boujis earlier this summer.

However, the paper has now released a statement retracting its claims, saying: 'We accept that the nightclub was the Purple nightclub and not Boujis as we said and the photographs were taken in the autumn of 2003 and not summer 2006.'

Harry's friend TV presenter Natalie Pinkham - who was seen being fondled by the prince in one of the photos - has also received an apology.

Pinkham alleges the photographs recently went missing from her home.

Her spokeswoman said: 'The original photographs are under lock and key at her home. They were taken at a private celebration of her birthday at the Purple Club, in Chelsea, in September 2003.

'The pictures are personal and were never intended for publication.'

The Sun newspaper had also suggested that Harry would have a 'lot of explaining to do' when his girlfriend Chelsy Davy saw the candid snaps.

However, Clarence House released a statement yesterday (15.08.06) insisting the photographs were old and predated the prince's relationship with Chelsy.

Many royal commentators began to question how recent the photographs were when they took a closer look at the prince's hair - which was considerably longer than it would have been allowed at Sandhurst Military Academy, where he recently complete his officer training.

The prince's official spokesman, Paddy Harverson, has revealed the prince or Buckingham Palace will not be taking any further action.

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International