Prince Edward's company was "incredibly apologetic"

They said there were no shots of the student prince and continued to insist that there was never any intention of trying to film him.

The footage was taken in St Andrews last week after all other photographers and film makers had left the town in line with a request from St James's Palace.

Ardent was filming for an American cable programme entitled the A-Z of Royalty.

Buckingham Palace confirmed on Monday that it had received the footage, and said it did not contain any pictures of the prince.

Ardent Productions said Prince William's privacy was "never in danger of being breached" and the television company "utterly respect the need for him to be left alone to undertake his studies in private".

We have undertaken a full review of the events surrounding the filming and the countless allegations

Ardent Productions statement

"We can categorically confirm that the tapes do not contain any shots of Prince William, nor do they contain any footage shot in any premises belonging to the university," said Ardent in a statement.

"None of the footage contained in the tapes handed over to Buckingham Palace will be used in this or any future programme.

"We have undertaken a full review of the events surrounding the filming and the countless allegations.

"Ardent and the A-Z production team are incredibly apologetic for what happened now that they realise the full picture, and for any trouble they have caused.

"We have concluded that it is impossible to identify any single individual of being misguided in filming in and around St Andrews during last week."

Prince William did not appear on the films

The company said an investigation had found that the A-Z production team had been led to believe they could complete their pre-arranged schedule of filming as long as they were not on university premises.

The company said it had no camera crew filming in St Andrews on Monday 24 September.

However, the crew returned to the Fife town to film on Tuesday night and on the Wednesday before departing on Thursday morning.

"Throughout this period the crew did not film on the university campus or any other premises without the express permission of the owners," said the statement.

"No students were paid cash for contributing to the programme.

"The crew did not film Prince William nor did they make any attempt to do so."