Prince Harry Kidnap Reports 'Irresponsible'

By Todd Peterson

11/26/2004 at 10:00 AM EST

When Britain’s Prince Harry left the seclusion of an Argentinean polo farm after a two-week stay on Thursday, some media outlets reported that he faced security threats, according to Reuters.

A headline in The Times (of Britain) read: “Kidnap threat forces Prince Harry home.” Citing an Argentine paper, The Times said a murder suspect had “tipped off the Argentine government about a plot to kidnap the prince.”

The Times reported that 15 armed officers were sent to the ranch to retrieve Harry, and that police fired shots in the air Wednesday night when they thought the kidnappers were nearby. Shots were reported near the ranch Wednesday, but local police said that shots from hunters are not unusual.

But on Friday, a spokesman for the royal family called the reports of kidnappers and heightened security “irresponsible.” “I have seen the headlines. It is just hugely irresponsible,” he said, although he did not completely deny the stories.

“We never comment on security matters,” he added.

The 20-year-old prince, the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, is third in line to the royal throne. He had no comment upon his return home.