Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge's honeymoon could have been delayed by the US government's plan to try to capture Osama Bin Laden.

Security experts have claimed that the decision to delay the honeymoon may have been more to do with the couple's safety rather than the prince's wish to rush back to work.

President Barack Obama authorised the US special forces attack on the terror chief at almost the exact same time the royal couple tied the knot on Friday morning.

It was announced just 24 hours later as the couple were returning to Anglesey so Prince William could resume his duties as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot.

One military analyst said a warning from the US government about the special forces strike could have been behind the decision to delay the couple's getaway.

President Obama signed the order for the strike on Bin Laden's compound early on Friday morning, as William and Kate were getting ready for their wedding ceremony.

Two days later, at 9pm Sunday UK time, four US military helicopters carrying specially forces closed in on Bin Laden's compound in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The terror chief was shot dead in the ensuing firefight.

A spokesman for the Palace downplayed claims the assassination raid had anything to do with the delay. He said the honeymoon delay was a 'personal' decision taken by the couple 'weeks ago'.

Yesterday the Mail revealed the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to honeymoon in a ￡4,000-a-night villa on an island in the Indian Ocean.

The couple are expected to spend ten days there and are due to fly out by private jet in mid-May before being taken by helicopter from the mainland to the tropical retreat.

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)