Britain's Prince Andrew has been accused of accepting four days of hospitality in Tunisia from a convicted gun smuggler.
The Duke of York and Tarek Kaituni - who was reportedly convicted of buying a machine gun and trying to smuggle it from Holland to France in 2005 - are said to have toured desert sights and stayed in top-class hotels before flying to Libya to continue their holiday with Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, the Libyan leader.
Kaituni was seen paying a hotel bill for both himself and the prince, but a spokeswoman for the royal insists he will be paying Kaituni for the full cost of the holiday.
The spokeswoman said: "The duke is reimbursing Kaituni and we just do it sort of privately because the duke is not carrying a whole lot of money with him."
"The trip to Tunisia was a holiday. It's a private visit to Libya but the meeting with Gaddafi was through official channels and was with the knowledge of the Foreign Office and U.K. Trade and Investment."
Andrew is an ambassador for British trade. He is not paid a salary for the position although he does receive expenses - funded by the taxpayer - which last year totaled £436,000 [$654,000].
The prince's recent trip to Tunisia was the second time in three months he has flown there to meet Kaituni and Gaddafi.
During his stay, Andrew stayed in the £480-a-night presidential suite of one hotel. In another hotel, his suite cost $930 a night.
Kaituni has previously denied he has been convicted of gun smuggling, saying: "It's not true. I'm not the only Kaituni in the world, there's thousands in Libya."
He has so far been unavailable for comment.
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