Cabinet minister criticises Sophie

Overseas trip: Earl and Countess of Wessex

A cabinet minister has suggested the Countess of Wessex was ill-advised in making her reported comments to a "bogus sheikh".

Trade secretary Stephen Byers praised the Royal Family for promoting British trade but said it should not confuse "the public and the private".

Buckingham Palace has hit back at reports that the countess insulted members of the Royal Family and senior politicians in a secretly taped conversation.

The controversy began when a newspaper reporter posed as a sheikh wishing to do business with the countess's PR firm.

Mr Byers was asked on the BBC's Question Time programme what he would do if, like the countess, he was approached by a sheikh bearing a glass of champagne.

'Important lesson'

He said the Royal Family had a "very important role to play in promoting British trade" but warned: "What we cannot do is to allow people to confuse the public with the private.

"That is the important lesson for politicians and for the Royal Family as well."

Pressed as to whether he thought the countess and her husband, Prince Edward, had confused the two in their minds, he replied: "I am making a general point and people will draw their own conclusions from this.

"Both for politicians and for members of the royal family it is important to make the distinction between public and private.

"So if a sheikh came to me with a glass of champagne, I would make my excuses and leave."

The earl and countess returned to the UK on Wednesday as the row over the reported comments continued.