Britain's Prince Harry mulls visit to death camp

Britain's Prince Harry will not be making an apology in person for wearing a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party but is considering invitations from Jewish groups to visit the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, royal officials said in London Friday.

Harry's father, Prince Charles, has insisted his youngest son's brief statement on the issue is sufficient.

"Prince Harry has apologized immediately and in a heartfelt fashion for making a very bad mistake. His apology has been accepted by a number of Jewish groups," a Sky News report quoted aroyal aide as saying.

Harry, the younger son of late Princess Diana and heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, was photographed in Nazi attire, including a swastika armband when attending a fancy dress party.

Jewish groups demanded the 20-year-old grandson of Queen Elizabeth make a symbolic visit to the Auschwitz death camp to atone for his mistake.

The Royals said there was no immediate plan for such a trip.

The visit to Auschwitz "will be given due consideration, but there are no plans at the moment," said a spokeswoman at the office of Prince Charles.

The comments come after Prince Harry's aunt-by-marriage, the Duchess of York, defended him Friday morning and said it is time for the media to "back off."

The Duchess of York, former wife of Prince Andrew who herself has been the target of media criticism in the past, said Harry made a mistake but should not be pilloried for it in the press.

"I want someone to stand up for him and say he's a very good man, and I'm that person because I know what it's like to have very bad press," the Duchess told BBC radio.

On Wednesday night, when the story was broken by The Sun tabloid newspaper, the prince had said he was sorry for his "poor choice" of costume.

But since then, there have been demands for him to appear in public to apologize in person. Both the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana has said that Harry's choice of outfit was unacceptable.

Source: Xinhua