Channel 4 defends Prince programme

The programme included scenes showing the Prince, played by actor Sebastian Reid, being held behind enemy lines while negotiations were carried out to free him.

A spokesman for the channel said it had received around 180 complaints before the programme, called The Taking of Prince Harry, was broadcast and none after transmission.

He said: “The film raised important questions around whether we want to expose members of the Royal Family to the new kind of risks that modern warfare poses. Once viewers actually watched the programme they would have seen that this was a sober and responsible documentary.”

The channel went ahead with the 90-minute broadcast against the wishes of the head of the Armed Forces.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup argued the programme would be distressing for the families of service personnel and potentially undermine the security and morale of troops in Afghanistan.

Harry, younger son of the Prince of Wales, secretly served in Afghanistan’s Helmand province for 10 weeks in 2008.