LONDON, Jan 13: Prince Harry, 20-year-old grandson of the queen, apologized on Thursday after a photo of him wearing a Nazi uniform at a costume party provoked outrage and embarrassed the British royal family.

The younger son of the late Princess Diana and heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles was pictured in a newspaper wearing a red and black swastika armband and an army shirt with Nazi regalia at the party at a friend's house on Saturday.

The Nazi gaffe - just two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz - drew immediate condemnation from both Britain and abroad. "The incident was in bad taste, especially in the runup to the Holocaust Memorial Day, which the royal family will be playing a leading role in commemorating," the Board of Deputies of British Jews said in a statement.

Queen Elizabeth is due to host a reception for survivors of the Holocaust on Jan. 27 before representing the nation at the Holocaust Memorial Day National Event. Robert Rozett, an official at Yad Vashem, Israel's national memorial to Jews killed during the Holocaust, said Harry's actions were insensitive and trivialized the history of the Holocaust.

"When a British prince wears the uniform of a Nazi soldier at a party it indicates that the lessons of the Holocaust have not really entered deeply within his understanding and consciousness," he said.

The photograph was published on the front page of the Sun newspaper under the headlines "Hitler Youth" and "Harry the Nazi". "I am very sorry if I have caused any offence," Harry, third in line to the throne, said in a statement. "It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize."

Conservative opposition leader Michael Howard, who is Jewish, said he was disappointed by Harry's actions and that many people would be offended. "It would be appropriate if we heard from him in person about how contrite he is," he told BBC Radio. Prime Minister Tony Blair's office refused to comment.

"WAYWARD SON": Former royal press officer Dickie Arbiter said Prince Charles had "once again been let down by his wayward son". "It's just not good enough to behave like that," he told the BBC.