After royal officials warned British tabloids against running images of Prince Harry鈥檚 recent naked Las Vegas escapade, most papers heeded the threat.
That is, until The Sun tabloid declared it will print the photos in its Friday edition in the name of press freedom.
On Wednesday, in an effort to recreate Prince Harry鈥檚 nude party photos without offending Buckingham Palace, The Sun ran a picture of a naked young staff member and a 21-year-old female intern, under the headline 鈥淗arry grabs the crown jewels.鈥�
Conveniently, the brave staff member is also named Harry.
But the tabloid changed its mind Thursday, explaining on its website that not running the photos that millions of people around the world have already seen online is 鈥渓udicrous.鈥�
The paper said the decision wasn鈥檛 taken lightly and that the issue was ultimately about the freedom of the press.
In a video posted online, managing editor David Dinsmore said: 鈥淭his is about the ludicrous situation where a picture can be seen by hundreds of millions of people around the world on the Internet, but can鈥檛 be seen in the nation鈥檚 favourite paper read by 8 million people every day.
鈥淭his is about our readers getting involved in the discussion about the man who is third in line for the throne, it鈥檚 as simple as that,鈥� he said.
While the images of the prince and a mystery girl frolicking naked at a party in a Vegas hotel room have already been widely circulated on the Internet, British papers have largely refrained from publishing the photos.
The pictures were published Tuesday on the American gossip website TMZ, which reported that Prince Harry had invited a group of girls to his VIP suite before a game of strip billiards ensued.
Head of the Society of Editors Bob Satchwell said British papers were complying with the editors鈥� voluntary Code of Practice which states that it is 鈥渦nacceptable to photograph individuals in private places without their consent.鈥�
However, other critics say it is a sordid history of bad behaviour among the British media, including the phone-hacking scandal that erupted last year and brought down Rupert Murdoch鈥檚 News of the World, that has now tamed the press.
A media ethics inquiry headed by Judge Brian Leveson exposed the practices of some newspapers to the public, as politicians, celebrities and victims of crime shared how the press had intruded into their personal lives.
As the inquiry contemplates whether to impose stricter limits on press freedom, many feel that the country鈥檚 tabloids are now avoiding the celebrity gossip they once delighted in.
"In this post-Leveson era ... they daren't do things that most of the country, if they saw it in the newspaper, would think 'that's a bit of a laugh,"' former News of the World editor Neil Wallis told the BBC.
Several media outlets outside Britain ran the two photos of the naked prince. According to British media reports, the photos sold for around $16,000.
Prince Harry鈥檚 office confirmed it had contacted the Press Complaints Commission after the photos were published in the U.S.
The commission then warned British papers against running the pictures.
Any paper which publishes the photos may be criticized by the commission and may even be asked to publish an apology. However, the commission has no power to levy fines.
If a paper chooses to publish the photos, it also risks being sued over invasion of privacy by the prince鈥檚 office.
Royal law firm Harbottle and Lewis warned in a letter Wednesday that royal officials 鈥�"entirely reserve their rights as to any future steps that they may take should publication take place."
Satchwell believes that while the Leveson inquiry may have sent chills through British newsrooms, the reluctance to print the photos likely stems from an underlying respect for Prince Harry.
"Of course freedom of the press is vitally, vitally important," he said. "But just because you can publish something doesn't mean that you should."
With files from The Associated Press
