Royal photo thief found

Aug 21, 2006, 14:54 GMT

A millionaire's son stole and sold photographs of Britain's Prince Harry groping a female friend, it has been claimed.

Last week, six photographs featuring Harry and William enjoying a boozy night out were published and Metropolitan Police immediately launched an investigation into the incident.

Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper now claims New Zealander Craig Harman, 28 - the son of one of the most powerful men in Australian broadcasting - received £20,000 from The Sun newspaper for the photographs and made £50,000 in further syndication sales.

In one picture, Harry was seen fondling his close friend Natalie Pinkham - who claims the negatives were stolen from her home.

According to the New Zealand Herald newspaper, the man who sold the photographs said they were left behind in a drawer when Natalie, 28, moved out of her flat in May,

A source said: 'Natalie still has the actual prints under lock and key in her new flat. However, it appears that during her move almost all of her negatives went missing.'

Natalie, a close friend of Harry's for seven years, has vowed to find the person who stole the negatives from her and describes the theft as 'the most massive betrayal' of her life.

When the pictures were originally published, The Sun newspaper claimed they had been taken earlier this summer in trendy London nightclub Boujis.

However, the photographs are actually three years old and were taken at Natalie's private birthday party in Chelsea's Purple Club.

Clarence House said it would not be commenting on Harman's alleged involvement.

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International