LONDON – Politicians, pressure groups, and religious leaders queued up yesterday to criticize Prince Harry after the publication of a photograph showing him wearing Nazi insignia at a private party.

The 20-year-old prince, who is third in line to the throne, was castigated by among others the Tory leader Michael Howard, the Israeli foreign minister, and survivors of the concentration camps for wearing a crude imitation uniform including a swastika armband.

The furor, which has made headlines around the world, represents a new low for the prince, whose late teenage years have been characterized by a facility for “hell-raising,” including excessive drinking, cannabis use, and taking a swing at photographers.

But there were some willing to defend him, describing the outcry over the photograph, published in a British newspaper, the Sun, as excessive.

Calls for Prince Harry to be stripped of his place at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst fell on deaf ears.

A senior Army official said there was no question of the prince not beginning his instruction in May.

“He is most emphatically not a liability. We take the same attitude to the prince as any other cadet.

“I am quite sure there are plenty of cadets who display lack of judgment, but we never hear of them because they do not end up in the Sun.”

Harry and Prince William were among some 250 guests at a fancy dress party last Saturday at the home of the Olympic triple gold medalist Richard Meade to celebrate the 22nd birthday of the horseman’s son Harry.

Many there were members of the Beaufort Hunt, favored by the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Prince Harry was shown holding a drink and a cigarette and dressed in a shirt altered to look like a German uniform by the addition of collar flashes and an eagle insignia on the chest.

But the most offensive part of the amateurish ensemble was the red, white, and black swastika armband.

The costume was apparently meant to represent the Afrika Korps – a rather odd interpretation of the birthday party’s “colonial” theme.

Few guests were prepared to discuss the event, but a number said that Prince Harry behaved well during the party. Guests were not particularly shocked by the costume but some thought it ill-advised and bound to attract publicity.

Clarence House swiftly issued a written statement from the prince apologizing for any offense, and there were indications that he received yet another dressing down from his father.

There were plenty of others waiting to give the prince a telling off. The Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, said: “Anybody who tries to pass it off as bad taste must be made aware that this can encourage others to think that perhaps that period was not as bad as we teach the young generation in the free world.”

Mr. Howard, who is of Romanian Jewish parentage, was not satisfied with the statement, arguing that the prince should account for his actions in public.

“It would be appropriate to hear from him in person,” he said. “It is some thing which will disappoint very many people and offend very many people. It might be appropriate for him to tell us himself just how contrite he is.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center urged the prince to visit Auschwitz for instruction in the horrors of the Nazi regime.

The camp will be the scene of a large international gathering this month marking the 60th anniversary of its liberation.

The Earl of Wessex will represent the royal family, with the Queen attending a British survivors’ event in London.

Doug Henderson, a Labor backbencher and former armed forces minister, said the incident demonstrated that Prince Harry was unfit to go to Sandhurst and called for him to withdraw his application.

“I don’t think that this young man is suitable,” said Mr. Henderson.