Smash hit

The trio, who were sitting with Charles in the middle, were asked by one photographer to "look like you know each other". They shuffled closer together and Prince Charles put his arms around his sons' shoulders, with William resting his hand on his father's knee.

William was asked about being a witness at the wedding. He said he was looking forward to it, adding: "Very much so. As long as I don't lose the rings - that's the one responsibility."

There had been hopes that the photo-call would be staged up in the mountains but poor weather conditions scuppered any plans for pictures of the royals on the slopes.

The media pack swelled in numbers this year after the announcement of the royal wedding.

William and Harry were asked if they had staged a stag do for their father. Harry said, laughing: "It's been and done." William added: "You've missed it. It was good fun."

Asked whether they had chained their father to a lamppost, the princes laughed loudly. Charles asked why that would have happened and the stag party tradition had to be explained to him by one of his sons.

Prince William was asked about how he and Kate were coping with the media attention.

"I haven't seen any of it. I'm just gagging to be on the slopes - simple as that," he said.

Asked if there was likely to be a second royal wedding soon, the prince dismissed the idea and said "No". Responding to questions about his father's wedding William said he was "very happy, very pleased", adding: "It will be a good day."

Harry, 20, smiled and said little throughout the photo call and made no remarks on the wedding.

Prince Harry was notoriously caught on camera while scuffling with a paparazzi photographer outside a London nightclub and William has had a difficult relationship with the media in the past, finding life in the limelight difficult.

Since the death of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, the princes were given more privacy when Clarence House secured an informal agreement with the press to leave them alone while they were still in education.

But as William prepares to leave university and Harry gets ready to join the Army, the extent of the privacy they enjoy could be under threat in the future.

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