75583-04THE Jewish community in Swindon has criticised the behaviour of Prince Harry following revelations that he wore a Nazi outfit to a fancy dress party in Wiltshire.

But fancy dress shops say people are over-reacting to what is just a bit of fun.

Photos in The Sun yesterday showed the Prince in a German desert uniform with swastika armband.

Perry Vandervelde, a spokeswoman for the Swindon Jewish Community, said: "Obviously we think it's in bad taste. He really should know better. The timing is unfortunate with the Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.

"His behaviour is pounced on by the press. He should know by now what the press are like."

Similar costumes to the one he wore are available in Swindon at Giggles and The Giant Party Shop although theirs do not feature a swastika.

The picture was taken at the weekend at his friend Richard Meades' birthday party near Chippenham, which had the fancy dress theme 'colonial and native'.

The Prince has since apologised for any offence caused but with the 60th anniversary of the liberation the Auschwitz death camp later this month, his actions have been deemed by some as insensitive.

However some felt Harry had been treated harshly by the national press. Anne Niblett, from Giggles in Faringdon Road, said: "We've got costumes like that and lots of people wear them, it's just a bit of fun. Have people got nothing else to worry about?

"He's gone to a fancy dress party hasn't he? It's not as if he's wearing it and just walking down the street. I think it's been blown out of all proportion. The papers go over the top with him on anything he does.

"Admittedly it's not the best timing but again, he was at a party so it's different. He has apologised and there are more important things going on. It's just a bit silly really."

But Rita Flett, from The Giant Party Shop, Victoria Road, said she would not have advised him to wear the outfit.

She said: "I think if you go to a fancy dress party you wear what you like but we would not have recommended that costume.

"I guess it's a sensitive time of year but he is a 20-year-old boy.

"My biggest thing is that it was not the right costume for the party. It was a native and colonial theme and if he had come here we wouldn't have advised anything like that, never mind who was hiring it."

Gareth Bethell