Anarchy in the Monarchy? : Royalty: The antics of the young royals have palace watchers wondering if they can live up to their stations.

Britain’s Royal Family has resorted to disguises and aliases to evade the prying lenses of the press, but two of its most controversial members have just walked into a photographic storm with their eyes open.

Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, and his wife, Sarah, invited a photographer into their home to take a set of informal pictures, complete with birthday party scenes and beachwear shots.

The photo exclusive of the couple, the Duke and Duchess of York, and their two young daughters filled 48 pages of a recent edition of Hello magazine.

But the royal snapshots, accompanied by an article titled “Delightful Moments at Home with the Yorks,” provoked criticism from friends and foes of the monarchy, who accused the couple of making a tasteless show of their private life.

It also stoked a long-running debate over whether the more fashionable royals damage or strengthen the monarchy by their mass appeal.

The episode is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding the younger members of the Royal Family who, in breaking with protocol to make the monarchy more accessible, have sometimes been accused of lacking the dignity demanded by their high station in life.

Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son, was panned three years ago when he persuaded a group of royals to dress up in period costumes and lead teams in a televised charity contest.

Flame-haired Sarah, nicknamed “Fergie” after her maiden name of Ferguson, was one of those taking part.

Since then, she has faced more criticism over her spending habits, her ranch-style house--dubbed “Palace Dallas” by British newspapers--and for wearing short skirts that reveal too much royal leg when she gets in and out of cars.

More recently, traditionalists were horrified when Princess Diana, wife of Prince Charles, heir to the throne, was caught giving her chauffeur a goodby kiss on the cheek after a holiday in Italy.

It is difficult for the royals to keep their dignity with the tabloid press around. A newspaper once ran a story titled: “20 Things You Did Not Know About Prince Charlie’s Bald Spot.”

Other controversial photographs have surfaced, including one of a pregnant Princess Diana in a skimpy bikini.

“All these things added together are leading to a crisis in the monarchy,” said Harold Brooks-Baker, champion of royal tradition and editor of Britain’s nobility directory, Burke’s Peerage. “If this carries on, it will come unstuck.”

He was highly critical of the Yorks.

“Even for an ordinary person, these photographs would be unacceptable,” he said. “Who would want to show pictures of their wife in a sun-dress to anyone but very close friends?”

The photographs are no different from average family snapshots. But some Britons take offense at the idea of one of the queen’s sons and his wife being photographed frolicking in a pool and feeding the baby.

The duchess was snapped changing her baby daughter Eugenie’s diapers and rubbing suntan lotion on 2-year-old Beatrice, who romped naked by the pool.

In the old days, the public was not allowed to see inside the royal households. When Queen Elizabeth first admitted the television cameras, her family was clad in traditional tweeds and tartans.

Hello editor Maggie Goodman said typical English prudery and snobbery were behind the criticism.

The public was snapping up copies of the magazine, she said, and newspapers that criticized the photographs were just jealous of Hello’s exclusive.

One newspaper said the prince and his wife, the daughter of a polo coach, came across like tourists on a cheap holiday. Even the right-leaning Daily Telegraph admonished the couple.

“My advice is that the Royal Family should equip themselves with an intelligent public relations operator without further delay before irreparable harm is done to the monarchy,” wrote the Telegraph’s Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd.

The Royal Family could hardly complain about snooping reporters if they made their private lives public, he said.

Prince Andrew is no fan of the press. In his bachelor days, he was caught vacationing with an actress friend despite traveling under an assumed name. He once threw paint over the paparazzi and had to make a public apology.

It was not clear why the couple agreed to the photo session. Goodman said they just wanted to share their wedded bliss with the world.

Skeptics have spoken of a big fee, a claim firmly denied by Hello magazine.

Buckingham Palace, in keeping with royal tradition, offered its customary “no comment.”