The Duke of Cambridge is beginning his six-week posting in the Falklands amid height-ened tensions between Britain and Argentina over the disputed islands.

Prince William arrived in the archipelago on Thursday ahead of a tour of duty as an RAF search and rescue pilot.

The Ministry of Defence said the posting was part of a routine operational deployment, despite Argentina likening it to that of a conqueror.

Tensions have risen between the two countries in the past week following the announcement that one of the Royal Navy’s most advanced new warships is being sent to the area. HMS Dauntless, a lethal Type 45 destroyer costing one billion pounds, is due to set sail for the South Atlantic on her maiden mission in the coming months to replace frigate HMS Montrose.

Prince William will attend a series of briefings and take part in a familiarisation flight before he begins his search and rescue work in the remote outcrop, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas.

An MoD spokesman said: “We can confirm Flight Lieutenant Wales, as part of a four-man Search and Rescue crew, has arrived in the Falkland Islands on a routine operational deployment and will shortly take up duties.

The Argentinean government claimed Prince William’s deployment was a distraction from Britain’s “internal problems”.

Vice-president Amado Boudou told the country’s La Red radio station that the move was a case of “bravado” to mask high unemployment and the prospect of Scottish independence.

Meanwhile, angry scenes broke out in Buenos Aires, where a group of masked protesters reportedly took to the streets and threw paint at a British bank.

The Royal Navy has rejected suggestions that the decision to send HMS Dauntless to the area was a riposte to increased tensions over the sovereignty of the Falklands.

Prince William’s posting has been similarly defended by the MoD as part of a normal squadron rotation, but it has been branded a “provocative act” by Argentina.