The Sun has become the first British newspaper to publish the photos of a naked Prince Harry taken in Las Vegas.
Owner News International said it was making the move despite warnings from the Royal Family's lawyers that it would be an invasion of his privacy.
The Sun said the images were widely available around the world, its readers had a right to see them and freedom of the press was being tested.
The pictures emerged from a private weekend the prince spent with friends.
Two photos of the prince and a naked woman in a hotel room are believed to have been taken on a camera phone last Friday in a Las Vegas hotel room.
They first appeared on US website TMZ earlier this week.
In Friday's Sun, under the headline "Heir it is", the paper says: "Pic of naked Harry you've already seen on the internet".
David Dinsmore, managing editor of the Sun, said the paper had thought "long and hard" about publication and added: "For us this is about the freedom of the press.
"This 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't be seen in the nation's favourite paper read by eight million people every day.
"This is about our readers getting involved in the discussion with the man who is third in line to the throne - it's as simple as that."
In an editorial, the newspaper said the pictures represented a crucial test of Britain's free press.
'Decision for editors'
St James's Palace had contacted the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) on Wednesday because it said it had concerns about the 27-year-old prince's privacy being intruded upon, in breach of the editors' code of practice.
The palace said it had heard a number of UK newspapers were considering using the pictures, although none had until now.
The fact that [the photos] happened is well known. How the public interest is served by doing this is not clear”
In reaction to the Sun's decision, a palace spokesman said: "We have made our views on Prince Harry's privacy known. Newspapers regulate themselves, so the publication of the photographs is ultimately a decision for editors to make.
"We have no further comment to make either on the publication of the photographs or on the story itself concerning Prince Harry's private holiday in Las Vegas."
TMZ reported that Harry had been pictured in a group playing "strip billiards".
The Sun said in a statement that in publishing the photos it was not making any moral judgement about the prince's activities.
It said: "He often sails close to the wind for a royal - but he's 27, single and a soldier.
"We like him. We are publishing the photos because we think Sun readers have a right to see them. The reasons for that go beyond this one story."
It added: "There is a clear public interest in publishing the Harry pictures, in order for the debate around them to be fully informed.
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235**
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035
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345
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037*
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Winning numbers in exact order
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24-26-17-25-02-22
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(1)winner
Winning numbers in any order
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43-10-27-09-44-34
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(0)winner
Winning numbers in any order
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