A St James’s Palace spokesman confirmed that it had contacted the Press Complaints Commission about the images, which were published on a US celebrity website and widely circulated online.

The two pictures, taken on a mobile phone in a hotel suite, were taken by a fellow reveller, and sold for an estimated £10,000.

The 27-year-old prince is wearing nothing but a watch and the distinctive thing necklace as he embraces a naked young woman who is clutching a pool cue during a game of “strip billiards”.

The palace stated that publication of the images, taken in a high rollers suite at the Wynn and Encore hotel complex costing up to £5,000 a night, would be a breach of the prince’s privacy.