One Direction Defend Prince Harry Over Las Vegas Antics: "He's Such A Strong Figure"

7 September 2012, 09:50 | Updated: 7 September 2012, 10:24

The 'One Thing' singers say the recent nude pictures of the young royal make him more "real" to the public.

One Direction have defended Prince Harry over the recent tabloid comments about his holiday in Las Vegas and say he's actually a "strong figure" for doing what he wants to do.

The 'What Makes You Beautiful' stars opened up about the young Royal during a recent interview and claimed Harry has a difficult time because he has to "be a role model" because of his status. 

"A lot of people would have gone away on holiday and had fun or whatever and it doesn't matter, but for him it matter," Liam Payne told E! Online this week, while Zayn Malik added: "[It's] different people's opinions and it's just that the only downside to it is you have to be aware of people's opinions." 

Fellow band member Louis Tomlinson says the pictures that emerged of Harry partying in Las Vegas actually help people identify more with the Royal Family member

"That's why I think that's he's actually such a strong figure, because he's real," Louis explained, while Niall Horan added: "He's a 20-odd year old guy just doing what he wants."

The 'Gotta Be You' stars were speaking ahead of their appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards 2012 (VMAs) last night (6th September) in Los Angeles, where they performed their recent hit single 'One Thing'.

Check out a picture of Niall Horan at the VMAs yesterday below (Credit: PA):

Liam, Zayn, Niall, Louis and Harry Styles also picked up all three awards they were nominated for, including Best Pop Video and Best New Artist. 

One Direction's brand new album 'Take Me Home' is set to be released on 12th November.