Campaign group Republic has condemned a speech by Prince William in which he made remarks widely seen as supporting Britain's membership of the EU.  The group says the remarks are a deliberate political intervention that politicises the monarchy.

Graham Smith, Republic's CEO, said today:

"The palace knows what it's doing, they would have known how these comments would be interpreted. These comments were clearly aimed at supporting the government's position."  

"This fits a pattern of behaviour last seen in 2014 when the Queen interfered in the Scottish referendum.  Carefully worded phrases they can quickly row back from the moment the story breaks."

"This begs the question whether there have been discussions between Number 10 and the palace, where the royals are asked to publicly support the government line."

"The myth of the non-political monarchy is unravelling and that poses real risks for the royals.  A lot of people opposed to the EU will be angered by this latest royal intervention."

"Republic has no view on the EU, the issue here isn't the rights and wrongs of the EU but the rights and wrongs of royal interference in politics."