Exposed: Prince Andrew's four-letter tirade that shocked the American ambassador

By FAY SCHLESINGER and JAMES CHAPMAN

Last updated at 9:18 AM on 30th November 2010

• Duke attacked Serious Fraud Office and 'corrupt' France
  
• Hillary Clinton: We greatly regret the release of this information
• Downing Street brands leak 'threat to national security'

Prince Andrew delivered an expletive-laden rant against British anti-fraud officers for hampering trade deals, it emerged last night.

During a raucous brunch, the ‘cocky’ and ‘rude’ Duke of York railed against Britain’s Serious Fraud Office and suggested France was riddled with corruption.

In a show of ‘unmitigated patriotism’, he even attacked the U.S. in front of one of the country’s ambassadors, claiming ‘the Americans don’t understand geography’.

The disclosures – among a new tranche of revelations made by whistleblowing website Wikileaks, raise questions about Andrew’s future in his role as a government trade representative, and there were calls for him to quit. Critics warned the comments by the fourth in line to the throne risked severely damaging the Special Relationship with the U.S..

Prince Charming? Andrew was branded 'cocky' and 'rude' by the U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Tatiana Gfoeller (right)

Meeting: The Duke is said to have made the comments during a brunch at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek

Buckingham Palace aides last night admitted the Duke would be embarrassed by his ‘choice language and manner’, but defended him for ‘banging the drum for British industry’.

The leaks have plunged America into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis as its astonishing secret verdicts on Britain and other countries around the world are exposed.

Most seriously for Washington, the embarrassing missives showed the U.S. ordered a spying operation on diplomats at the United Nations, including British officials, in apparent breach of international law.

The disclosures are particularly embarrassing for the U.S. government as some three million of its personnel and soldiers, many extremely junior, have clearance to access this material.

They can view the identities of foreign informants, often sensitive contacts in dictatorial regimes, in cable messages not intended for their eyes.