There have been numerous pictures of Prince William in the wake of the birth of royal baby last week. But none quite like the image of ‘Prince Willy’ that flashed up on the BBC this morning.

The broadcaster has apologised after a photograph of the Duke of Cambridge with a penis drawn on his head - also sporting glasses and a goatee - appeared fleetingly on BBC Breakfast this morning.

The glimpse of the unusual image of the royal occurred at 8.28am when the current affairs programme was promoting an upcoming interview with singing group Barbershopera.

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The image appeared in a trailer introducing the performers’ parody song 'I could have married Kate' but presenters made no mention of the Prince's unusual appearance.

BBC Breakfast viewers were quick to spot the aberration, however, commenting on Twitter about Auntie's slip-up.

Chris Bryant MP posted: “Did anyone just see the penis drawn on Prince William’s head on @BBCNews? #majorofcomfail.’

Dave Yates tweeted: “Dear BBC Breakfast. The trail for ‘ Barbershopera’ just showed a cartoon drawing of a penis on Prince William’s head. Please be more careful.”

The BBC issued a statement later this morning apologising for broadcasting the image.

It said: “This image was shown fleetingly within a comedy promotional video for Barbershopera, a humorous barbershop group, who were appearing later on the programme.

“The material was provided by Barbershopera but we failed to spot the offending material within it. We apologise for this.”

Watch Barbershopera's 'I could have married Kate':