Harry, who was seen looking sheepish as he flew out of Los Angeles yesterday, was accompanied by his six-strong security team and kept a low profile. He avoided questions about the snaps, which are thought to have been taken in Las Vegas on August 17.

Clarence House has confirmed that it is indeed Prince Harry in the photos — which show the prince fully nude, cupping his genitals in one and standing behind a seemingly naked girl in the other — but has not commented further about the incident.

The pictures of the 27-year-old, who was in Las Vegas enjoying some down time after the Olympic Games, are thought to have been captured on a camera phone when the prince and his friends invited a group of girls back to their VIP suite, where they played a game of ‘strip billiards’.

Clarence House has asked that the press respect the prince's "expectation of privacy".

Former head of royal protection at the Metropolitan Police Service, Dai Davies, has told the UK’s Telegraph that it would have been difficult for the Prince’s security guards to avoid the situation.

“I don't envy their [the security officers] job. It must be a nightmare at times, trying to ensure that he doesn't get into these kinds of scrapes," he said.

“I'm told he's a lovely man and everyone forgives him for whatever he has done almost as soon as he has done it.”