A Skinny-Dipping Prince Andrew Is Revealed in Tabloid

LONDON — A nude photograph of Prince Andrew was splashed across the centerfold of Britain’s raciest tabloid newspaper Thursday.

The Sun’s photograph of Queen Elizabeth’s sailor-son, dubbed “Randy Andy” by the tabloid press during his bachelor days, sparked angry protests from members of Parliament.

“So That’s Why All the Nice Girls Love a Sailor,” the Sun headline said of the photograph of the prince skinny-dipping in a Canadian river eight years ago.

The paper superimposed a graphic depicting a crown over the Duke of York’s lower torso.

The photograph was taken in 1983, three years before Andrew, a naval helicopter pilot, married Sarah Ferguson.

“A school chum captured the dripping-wet prince forever with his camera . . . but the photograph . . . remained locked away in a cupboard for seven years,” the Sun said.

The Sun said it “unearthed the photograph to show the whole world what Fergie, the queen and only a handful of young ladies have laid their eyes on over the years.”

Henry Bellingham, a member of Parliament of the ruling Conservative Party, said loyal subjects “will find this grossly distasteful.”

A spokesman at Buckingham Palace declined to discuss the photograph--the first nude picture of a member of the Royal Family to be published.