Security says Prince Harry 'a lovable nightmare' as nude photos confirmed
PRINCE Harry has arrived back in the UK to a storm of controversy over his nude romp with two girls in a Las Vegas hotel.
PRINCE Harry has arrived back in the UK to a media storm over his nude romp with two girls in a Las Vegas hotel.
The Queen and senior members of the Royal Family were shocked by publication of the pictures taken in a Las Vegas hotel suite.
A bidding war erupted late yesterday in the UK for the photos of the young royal, nude and clutching his crown jewels as he cavorts with a young woman.
In another photograph published on an American website, he is seen naked giving a girl a bear hug.
Apparently the 27-year-old met a group of young women at the bar of his hotel and invited them up to his suite for a game of strip billiards. Judging by the photo they all missed a ball or two as they partied naked.
The images on TMZ were then re-tweeted around the world.
Harry's official mouthpiece Clarence House confirmed the embarrassing published images were genuine and then asked the UK media to respect the prince’s “expectation of privacy” in what was his private party on his holiday.
Clarence House made no request to withhold publication and did not respond to written questions.
But far from showing any public contrition over the scandal the playboy prince was said by friends to feel ‘fairly bullish’, The Daily Mail reports.
"He’s not eating an awful lot of humble pie as I understand,’" it quoted one of Harry's friends.
Another royal source dismissed the pictures as Harry "simply letting off steam".
"He’s a very exuberant character and he was on a completely private holiday," the source was quoted as saying.
British media had yesterday initially held back with the Harry news item being run last on many broadcasts.
But that changed as the day went on and public opinion was mixed, from supportive of a young man just letting off steam to a disgrace and a waste of public funding. Coverage and commentators have however been restrained in their coverage of the story.
Questions are also being raised as to where his expensive tax payer funded 24/7 private protection officers were, how they let him get so out of control and how they let one of the party girls photograph the scene.
Prince Harry's bodyguards have said the royal is almost impossible to keep in check, but they love him anyway.
Keeping Harry in check is an impossible job for his bodyguards, but he’s always quickly forgiven for his escapades, former head of royal protection at the Metropolitan Police Service Dai Davies told London's Telegraph newspaper.
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Video: Harry parties in Vegas pool with women
It seems the party-loving prince easily gives his security detail the slip, despite the fact that British taxpayers spend 120 million pounds ($180 million) on security for Harry and the rest of the royal family each year.
"I don't envy their [security officers'] job. It must be a nightmare at times, trying to ensure that he doesn't get into these kinds of scrapes,” Mr Davies said.
"I'm told he's a lovely man and everyone forgives him for whatever he has done almost as soon as he has done it.”
It seems the British public are equally quick to forgive, with many laughing off the Prince’s nude party photos.
But Harry may find it harder to dodge the consequences of this one. He is an Army captain and helicopter pilot and like all military men has to conduct himself, in public and private, under a strict code of conduct. Nude romps splashed around the world breaches those codes. There was no comment last night whether it would warrant formal disciplinary action.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine said Harry’s naked romp won't hurt his public image. Harry's party-boy image was part of his approachable, normal persona, she said.
"Of course it's stupid, but it doesn't make people dislike him - quite the opposite," she said.
"It shows that he is a guy who gets into trouble and he's the one people love to love. It could only happen to Harry - but we love him for it."
She did think, though, that Harry might get a talking-to from Prince Charles. "I would think his father would speak to him," she said.
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Londoner Jim Conlon, a 60-year-old construction worker, told AP Harry hasn’t done anything wrong.
"I'd be proud of him if he were my son,” he said.
Interviews on London’s Prince of Wales Road yielded few critics of Harry's antics.
Caregiver Shirley Ashard laughed at the news of Harry's naked adventure, dismissing questions about the propriety of running around a plush hotel room in the buff with a ‘boys-will-be-boys’ shrug.
"I've got kids. They do things like that," the 59-year-old said. "He's a lad, for God's sake."
The blurry, low-resolution photographs appear to have been snapped from inside a hotel suite, and it isn't clear that the prince was aware that they were being taken.
That could be a violation of the royal's privacy. It might also explain why Britain's scandal-hungry tabloids - normally avid consumers of titillating photos - were steering clear of the images.
Ms Ashard said the only outrage she could muster was against the photographer.
"That's out of order," she said. "How would you like it if someone took pictures of you in your hotel room?"
The images were published by US Hollywood gossip website TMZ, showing the third in line to the throne partying in his VIP suite at the MGM Grand Hotel.
Harry's spokesman at Clarence House confirmed the the pictures were genuine, but would not comment on them.
"At this time we don't have a comment," a spokesman said, adding: "We may do later."
In one of the photos, the Prince is shown cupping his genitals while a topless woman stands behind him. In another picture, his bare buttocks are in full view of the camera as he bear-hugs a naked woman from behind.
TMZ reported that the prince and his pals hung out in the hotel bar where they made friends with "a bunch of hot chicks".
The group later retired to Prince Harry's VIP suite where things got a little wild during a game of strip billiards.
It's a long way from the cosy, marital bliss of elder brother Prince William let alone Prince Charles, who famously caused a storm at the age of 14 when he ordered a cherry brandy at a bar.
The pictures could bolster his reputation as a loveable rapscallion who has long rebelled against royal constrictions, charming all and sundry with his cheeky smile and mischievous nature.
They will also undermine Buckingham Palace's concerted campaign to reposition Harry, who has been praised for charity work, in a more serious role.
This was recently stepped up when the 27-year-old performed the most important official engagement of his life, representing the Queen at the closing ceremony of the London Olympics.
Just last week, Britain's Daily Telegraph heralded his solo appearance as indicative of a newer, older, wiser Harry who was almost teetotal.
Since arriving in Sin City last weekend, Harry has been carrying on like a character from the TV series Entourage, living it up at marathon pool parties and sipping cocktails with bikini-clad beauties.
Dressed in flowery red swimming trunks, Harry and a group of male friends hung out at the 'ultra pool' - where an elite crowd mingles listening to DJs.
A day earlier, the Harry challenged US Olympic gold medallist Ryan Lochte to a race at a wild pool party.
In an episode reminiscent of his race in Jamaica against Usain Bolt, the ambitious Harry got a head start on Lochte, who patiently counted to three before easily beating the Prince with his powerful breaststroke.
Lochte, partying in Vegas for his 28th birthday celebrations, gave Harry a good-natured hug after their race as a crowd of bikini-clad partygoers looked on.
"He's a great guy, and it was a huge honour to meet him," Lochte was quoted as saying, adding: "I definitely wasn't going to take it easy on him!"