Royal row over Euro army

A political storm deepens over European defence plans

The row over a European defence force has deepened amid speculation that Prince Charles has concerns over the plans.

The Prince was bluntly told to mind his own "bloody business" after he was reported to have told friends he is worried such a force would undermine the special relationship between the Britain and the US.

Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrats' defence and foreign affairs spokesman, warned the Prince not to be drawn into making political statements.

Menzies Campbell: delivered blunt rebuke

"If these reports are true, as Prince Philip might well have said, `it's none of his bloody business',"said Mr Campbell,who is a strong supporter of the new force.

"Prince Charles should not stray into the political arena on this or any other issue."

The Daily Mail claims the Prince is particularly concerned that Americans will hold back the supply of intelligence data because they distrust the French.

But St James' Palace has said the Prince had never expressed any such concerns in public, and refused to discuss the contents of his private conversations.

Special relationship

Conservative defence spokesman Iain Duncan-Smith earlier told Radio 4's Today programme that if Prince Charles did have misgivings about what this would mean to Britain's "special relationship" with America, then this was understandable.

"American fears are very well founded and I am in agreement with them.

The Prince is in the midst of a political row

"I think this is a wholly wrongheaded operation which the government, Mr Blair, has started and it has got out of hand. The French have got their way and there are serious problems ahead."

But Bruce George, the Labour chair of the Commons defence select committee, said it was a fantasy to say the French had got their way at Nice and the notion of a "European Army" was nonsense.

Off the cuff remarks

He said if the comments by Prince Charles were off the cuff remarks made to friends he would dismiss this as a Christmas silly season story, rather than being a statement of concern about the Nice Summit proposals.

He accepted that Prince Charles, as a colonel of a regiment, moved in military circles and there were those who had concerns about the implications of a rapid reaction force.

He said: "The government would be very angry if they felt they had been suckered into an agreement by which we were going to have our security compromised."

But he added that the majority of the defence committee was convinced that the proposals would strengthen, not damage the position of Nato.

But Mr Duncan Smith was unconvinced and said the agreement meant that Europe would have a force which was autonomous from Nato.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has previously insisted that Britain would not sign up to the 60,000-strong EU rapid reaction force if it posed any threat to Nato.