Prince Harry's aides have announced they will not be making a formal complaint to the newspaper watchdog about the Sun's publication of nude photos of him.
Harry, an Apache helicopter co-pilot gunner, is on deployment in Afghanistan, and pursuing a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) would be a distraction, said St James's Palace.
The Sun was the only British newspaper to defy PCC advice that the press should not publish the photos of Harry frolicking in the nude with an unnamed woman in Las Vegas.
The PCC had warned that publication could breach the Editor's Code of Practice on privacy grounds.
A St James's Palace spokesman said: "Having considered the matter now for a number of weeks, we have decided not to pursue a complaint with the PCC on behalf of Prince Harry in respect of the photos of the Prince taken in Las Vegas. We informed the PCC yesterday.
"We remain of the opinion that a hotel room is a private space where its occupants would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
"Prince Harry is currently focused entirely on his deployment in Afghanistan, so to pursue a complaint relating to his private life would not be appropriate at this time and would prove to be a distraction.
"We have concluded that it would not be prudent to pursue the matter further, and we will have no further comment to make about the matter."
The Sun justified its decision to breach the British press's united stand in not publishing the pictures, which originally appeared on an American website, by arguing that they were widely available on the internet, and had already been viewed by millions of people.
The newspaper said in an editorial on August 24, the day it published the photos: "The photos have potential implications for the Prince's image representing Britain around the world.
"There are questions over his security during the Las Vegas holiday.
Questions as to whether his position in the Army might be affected.
Further, we believe Harry has compromised his own privacy."
It said it was "vital" that it ran the pictures, adding: "The Prince Harry pictures are a crucial test of Britain's free Press.
"It is absurd that in the internet age newspapers like The Sun could be stopped from publishing stories and pictures already seen by millions on the free-for-all that is the web."
On September 7 the PCC said it would be "inappropriate" to open an investigation into the Sun's publication of the photographs, adding that it was in dialogue with Harry's representatives, who had not yet made a formal complaint, and that any investigation without consent could "pose an intrusion" in itself.
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