Prince Harry is to make his first public appearance since being photographed naked in a hotel suite and cheer on Paralympic athletes next week.

The prince will watch swimmers in the aquatic centre on Monday and later that day chat to sportsmen and women in the official meeting place for the country's competitors - ParalympicsGB House.

Headlines were generated around the world when pictures of Harry frolicking in the nude with an unnamed naked woman during a Las Vegas holiday emerged on a celebrity gossip website last Wednesday.

Only the Sun defied a request to UK newspapers, made by St James's Palace via the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), to respect the prince's privacy and not publish the pictures.

The tabloid's front-page image of Harry holding his genitals, and another inside of him with his bottom exposed, generated 3,600 complaints from the public to the press watchdog.

David Dinsmore, the Sun's managing editor, said the paper had "thought long and hard" about whether to use the pictures on Friday and that it was an issue of freedom of the press rather than it moralising about Harry's actions.

ALSO SEE: 3,600 Complain About The Sun Printing Nude Photos Of Royal

He told the BBC's Radio 5 Live the Sun did generally "fear" the PCC, but a decision had been made to publish the photos because of the public interest.

Harry, along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is an official ambassador of ParlympicsGB.

The prince will not be joining the Queen, William, Kate and other royals at tomorrow's opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games but may carry out other engagements in support of the athletes during the global sporting event, if his military duties allow it.

During Thursday the Cambridges will watch the sport of goalball at the Olympic Park and track cycling, and later that day Kate will attend swimming races.

The Duchess will undertake a solo engagement on Sunday watching the athletics at the Olympic Stadium.

A St James's Palace spokesman stressed the royal engagements at the Paralympic Games could be subject to change.

Harry will also attend an evening engagement on Monday, supporting the charity WellChild, which has the prince as its patron, by giving a speech at its awards ceremony and meeting the winners.

The decision by the Sun to print the naked pictures of the prince provoked a mixed reaction both within and outside the media industry.

Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott said the newspaper had shown "absolute utter contempt" for the law and the Leveson Inquiry.

"It is not about privacy. It is about money, money, money. And they know that by exclusively printing the pictures, assuming they are the only (British) paper which does, they will get everybody buying the paper to see this."

In a Twitter exchange with Lord Prescott, Rupert Murdoch, founder of News Corporation which publishes the Sun, denied taking the decision to print the photographs.

"Decision was rightly that of the editor, and I support. I was in Silicon Valley far removed," he wrote.

Posting again later, Mr Murdoch wrote: "Simple equation: free, open uncontrollable internet versus shackled newspapers equals no newspapers. Let's get real."

London Mayor Boris Johnson said he had a "deafening indifference" to the publication of the naked photos.

He told the BBC: "The real scandal would be if you went all the way to Las Vegas and you didn't misbehave in some trivial way."

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  • October 1991 at the World Cup in Wales

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  • March 1994 on a ski trip to Austria

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  • August 1995 at the V-J Day Celebrations with Diana

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  • September 1995 at Eton College

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  • January 1996 in Switzerland

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  • November 1997 in South Africa

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  • November 1997 at a Spice Girls Concert in South Africa

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  • March 1998 on a visit to Vancouver

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  • March 2002 in Switzerland

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  • September 2002 at the English Premier League Soccer Club West Ham United

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  • September 2003 at the Sydney's Taronga Zoo

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  • July 2004 at the St. Jame's Palace Polo Day Charity Match in Tetbury, England

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  • September 2004 playing rugby in Walsall, England

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  • March 2005 at Prince Charles and Camilla's Wedding in Windsor, England

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  • July 2005 at Cartier Cup at Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park, England

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  • July 2005 at a Polo Match in Cirencester, England

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  • November 2005 training for the Army in England

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  • May 2006 at the Annual Parade and Service of the Combined Cavarly 'Old Comrades' Association in London, England

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  • April 2007 at the Cricket World Cup in Antigua

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  • October 2007 at the Royal Navy's squadron in Portsmouth, England

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  • January 2008 in Afghanistan

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  • February 2008 playing rugby in Afghanistan

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  • March 2008 returning from Afghanistan in Oxfordshire, southern England

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  • May 2009 at a Children's School Dance in Harlem, New York

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  • May 2009 at the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic Match

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  • May 2010 with girlfriend Chelsy Davy at a graduation ceremony in Middle Wallop, England

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  • June 2010 in combat simulation at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York

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  • June 2010 in the remote village of Semongkong, Lesotho

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  • June 2010 at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic Match in New York

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  • July 2010 at the Canine Partners Organization in Midhurst, United Kingdom

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  • July 2010 at a Royal Wedding in Abergavenny, Wales

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  • July 2010 at the Asprey World Class Cup in Ewhurst, United Kingdom

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  • November 2010 at the Royal British Legion Field of Remembrance in Wootton Bassett, England

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  • April 2011 at the Royal Wedding

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  • April 2011 at the Royal Wedding

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  • May 2011 in training for an expedition on an Island near the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole

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  • June 2011 at the Founder's Day Parade in London, England

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  • July 2011 at Zara Phillips & Mike Tindall's wedding

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  • August 2011 after cousin Zara Phillip's wedding weekend

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  • September 2011 at the BGC Partners' Charity Day in London, England

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  • December 2011

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  • February 2012 visiting RAF Honington

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to Belize

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to Belize

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to the Bahamas

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to Jamaica

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to Jamaica

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to Jamaica

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to Jamaica

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to Brazil

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  • March 2012 during a royal visit to Brazil

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  • Swimmer Eleanor Simmonds was, at the age of 13, the youngest British athlete in Beijing

  • Cyclist Neil Fachie

  • Athlete Scott Moorhouse

  • Cyclist Jody Cundy

  • Powerlifter Zoe Newson lifts 60kg weights

  • Judo athletes Jonathan Drane and Marc Powell during a demonstration

  • Great Britain's Powerlifting team (left to right) Anthony Peddle, Jason Irving, Ali Jawad, Zoe Newson and Natalie Blake

  • Cyclists Aileen McGlynn and Helen Scott

  • Sailor Helena Lucas

  • Sailing team Hannah Stodel, Steven Thomas, Niki Birrell, Helena Lucas and front row (left-right) John Robertson and Alexandra Rickham

  • Runner Sally Brown

  • Archer Phil Bottomley (centre)

  • Basketball's Laurie Williams