Britain's royal family announced it would not be placing a complaint against British tabloid The Sun with the nation's press watchdog over the publication of naked Prince Harry in Las Vegas, Reuters reported on Friday.
Photos of the 27-year-old royal were first published on U.S. Hollywood gossip site TMZ before being republished in the British tabloid, which was the only British publication to run the photos. St. James' Palace stated that the prince decided not to place a complaint due to his deployment in Afghanistan.
The Sun published the photos in late August and said that they believed it was an issue of "the freedom of the Press."
The paper's managing editor David Dinsmore published a video of his decision to run the photos and said, "We've thought long and hard about this. The Sun is a responsible paper and it works closely with the Royal family. We take heed of their wishes. We're also big fans of Prince Harry, he does a huge amount of work for this country and for the military and for the image of both of those institutions."
The Palace's announcement stated, "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 remain of the opinion that a hotel room is a private space where its occupants would have a reasonable expectation of privacy," the Palace added.
Prince Harry, who is third-in-line for the throne, returned to combat in Afghanistan earlier this month to fly attack helicopters, Reuters reported.
His brother, Prince William, and sister-in-law, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, experienced a similar situation when topless photos of the Duchess were published in several European publications. Unlike Harry, the royal couple launched a criminal complaint against the photographer that took the photos while they were on vacation in the south of France.