Charlotte Church criticises Sun for Prince Harry photos

Charlotte Church has given evidence to the Leveson inquiry on media ethics

Singer Charlotte Church has joined criticism of the Sun's decision to publish naked photos of Prince Harry.

More than 850 complaints have been made to the press watchdog but the paper has said press freedom was being tested.

"The pictures were available on the net if you wanted to see them and if you wanted to form your own opinion," the singer told the BBC Wales News website.

A vocal critic of press intrusion, she has received substantial damages from the News of the World's publisher.

"I don't think they [The Sun] needed to go that step further to print them."

Speaking after performing at the Paralympic torch celebration in Cardiff Bay on Monday, she added: "It was in a private hotel room. I think it was an invasion of his privacy.

"I'm not a royalist, I don't sit on either side of the fence."

The Sun has said the images were widely available around the world, its readers had a right to see them and freedom of the press was being tested.

The pictures emerged from a private weekend the prince spent with friends in Las Vegas.

Camera phone

The two photos of the prince and a naked woman in a hotel room are believed to have been taken on a camera phone last Friday.

In an editorial, the newspaper said the pictures represented a crucial test of Britain's free press.

Earlier this year, Charlotte Church and her parents agreed damages and costs of £600,000 with News Group Newspapers, which published the now defunct News of the World.

The High Court had heard the singer's phone was hacked when she was 16 years old.

Now aged 26, she has also given evidence to the Leveson inquiry into media ethics.