Royal security is under urgent review in Denmark after the publication of lurid photographs purporting to show a prostitute posing naked astride the thrones of Queen Margrethe II and her consort, Prince Henrik.

Even in Scandinavia, where attitudes towards nudity are relaxed, the stunt has prompted outrage at the insult to the popular Royal Family.

Security staff cautioned yesterday that the seven photographs could have been the result of a computerised hoax — with the model’s image superimposed on the royal thrones — rather than a break-in at Christiansborg Palace in central Copenhagen.

But See and Hear, the weekly magazine that first published the pictures under the headline “Porno on the Throne”, said that it had verified that the images were genuine. It has refused to name the prostitute, disclosing only that she is aged 43 and claims to have taken the pictures herself with an automatic camera.

Royal officials are now waiting to see whether further images appear after See and Hear reported that it had 22 more scandalous shots, some of which it would publish next week. One is said to show the woman lying naked on the table where Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister, holds Cabinet meetings.

Jens Greve, the palace manager, summed up the Scandinavian mood when he declared: “Under all circumstances it is very annoying and an abuse of surroundings we all value. I choose to view this as a provocative act on society.”

The Queen has been living at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, traditionally the monarch’s winter home, and is not thought to have been in Christiansborg Palace when the photos were taken.

“When the Royal Family uses the area the security situation is different,” Mr Greve insisted.

The model was pictured in the Throne Room, one of the castle’s reception rooms, which is open to the public for guided tours but is also used for ceremonial and state events.

Queen Margrethe II, 67, holds a fortnightly audience there with politicians and receives foreign ambassadors while seated on the royal throne.

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