FRIENDS of party-loving Prince Harry have rallied round the 17-year-old royal following revelations he downed vodka drinks with pals.

Prince Harry was alleged to have drunk six Smirnoff Ices, the alcoholic equivalent of nine shots of spirit, at a party at the Beaufort Polo Club, near Tetbury, last Friday.

Horse lover Fiona Gale, 27, who lives in Sherston, was at the polo club on Friday to watch the polo club versus jockey club match.

She said she left at about 6pm, before the evening party where Prince Harry is said to have been drinking.

"I didn't see anything out of the ordinary," said Miss Gale.

"I didn't see much of him, but from what I saw he was sitting quietly in the grandstand."

She said the prince's friends are becoming annoyed at the continued furore over his alleged drink and drug taking.

In January, it emerged Harry told his father he began smoking cannabis after finishing his GCSEs at Eton last year, and experimented with drugs at the Rattlebone Inn, in Sherston.

In March, Wiltshire police announced he would not face police action over allegations of cannabis smoking and under-age drinking. "It's Prince Harry but all girls drink, and all boys drink, and this has got stupid," added Miss Gale.

"It has all been blown out of proportion because of who he is."

Agricultural student Niki Sturgis, 20, of Brook Farm, Great Somerford, was part of the catering team at Friday's event, which was held at the polo club's Down Farm, near Badminton.

Her father Toby, a county and district councillor, said he does not know if Niki went to the party in the evening.

"The only comments I have heard from Niki and her friends are that the national papers have got it wrong again," said Mr Sturgis. "What has appeared in the papers is totally out of proportion to what happened."

Niki was snapped with the prince three weeks ago at the King Constantine polo match at Cirencester sharing a laugh with him as he bought a burger from a food van. "We really don't discuss what is happening with Prince Harry," added Mr Sturgis.

No-one has been available for comment at Beaufort Polo Club.

The prince and his friends are also said to have drunk in pubs around Malmesbury and Cirencester, including The Vine Tree, in Norton, near Malmesbury.