Harry's 'innocent mistake'

A snap poll today showed that most people are not outraged by Prince Harry turning up to a fancy dress party dressed as a Nazi.

In the This is London survey, 63% of the 1,500 who voted felt Harry had either been 'badly advised' or had just 'made an innocent mistake'. Only 37% of those taking part said they had been 'disgusted' by his actions.

The poll results seem to provide support for Harry's apology over making a "poor choice of costume".

However, there has been an outcry from many leading public figures over Harry's outfit, including Conservative leader Michael Howard.

He called for the 20-year-old royal to "to tell us just how contrite he now is".

He added: "It is just not good enough to behave like that. We all know history, and at 20 there is no excuse."

Former British Army commander Bob Stewart has also criticised Harry, saying: "Prince Harry must be an enormous idiot with minimum common sense. He's made a grave mistake."

Colonel Stewart added: "If I had an officer who went to a party dressed as a Nazi I would have dragged him in front of me and as his commanding officer would have given him a punishment of 14 days extra duties.

"Other people have different views but it's bad taste. You don't want your officers seen like that.

"It's likely he would have been punished for bringing the Officer Corps into disrepute."