A right royal row has brewed up in Britain over a press intrusion issue involving Prince William during his first week at university and a television crew working for his uncle, Prince Edward.
Edward issued an unreserved apology, while William's father and heir to the throne Prince Charles was said by royal insiders to be "incandescent" with rage.
Edward's Ardent production company issued an unreserved apology on Thursday for the events and was sorry if the crew's activities violated plans to leave William to study in peace at St Andrews University in Scotland.
But it denied the crew was trying to film William and said the incident was being investigated.
"Ardent is satisfied that the A-Z film crew were not filming Prince William and had no intention of doing so. The company is treating this incident very seriously and is urgently investigating the details of what actually occurred," the company said in a statement.
"Ardent had no wish to breach the spirit of the arrangements which had been put in place to protect the privacy of Prince William and all the students at St Andrews. It unreservedly apologizes if the activity of the production team has put those agreed arrangements in doubt."
Media gathered at St Andrews at the weekend for an official photo-call to mark 19-year-old William's arrival had all complied with a painstakingly worked-out deal to leave the Scottish town on Monday.
All, that is, except the crew working for Ardent, the production company set up by Edward, Queen Elizabeth's youngest son.
The media agreement is regarded as crucial by royal officials, who want to spare William the press harassment that dogged his late mother, Princess Diana.
William, who is on a four-year art history course, rang his father to complain that his privacy had been breached.
Officially, the press office at St James' Palace, the London home of William's father Prince Charles, expressed disappointment. But royal insiders said Charles was "incandescent" with rage and courtiers were also furious.
A spokeswoman for Prince Charles later said they were happy Ardent had said it was sorry for the episode. "We're pleased to accept the apology and hope that draws a line under matters," the spokeswoman said.
Ardent said the university press office had allowed it to film and that when Edward realized there was a problem he told the crew to stop.
St Andrews flatly denied the claim, saying Ardent's request to film during the first week of term had been turned down. "Ardent were advised that they would be offered the same privileges and access as all other media," a university statement said.
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