Whatever you say about Prince Harry, he has proved to be the most endearing of the young royals. Not since his mother, Princess Diana, have we seen a member of the Firm demonstrate such irrepressible enthusiasm at work and at play, nor such natural warmth with people. His sense of duty has been profound, insisting [...]

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Prince Harry is charming, brave and loveable; but he’s a little lost boy

By Amanda Platell
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Whatever you say about Prince Harry, he has proved to be the most endearing of the young royals.
Not since his mother, Princess Diana, have we seen a member of the Firm demonstrate such irrepressible enthusiasm at work and at play, nor such natural warmth with people.

His sense of duty has been profound, insisting against strong Establishment advice that he served with the Army in Afghanistan.
Over the past few weeks we have seen many examples of his charm and ebullience as he represented the Royal Family at several Olympic events, including the closing ceremony when he stood in for the Queen.

Oops: Young Harry seems suitably embarrassed over the risqué snaps taken in a Vegas hotel suite

So how unfortunate that when things were going so well for him, Harry gets caught with his pants down – literally – and pictures of him partying naked are beamed across the world. Who on earth advised the third in line to the throne to indulge in some ‘full-on partying’ in the world’s self-styled capital of sleaze, Las Vegas?

Downing vodka shots and cavorting until the early hours of the morning with bikini-clad wannabes, this was more the world of soft-porn films than the behaviour expected of the Queen’s grandson.

We had come to think that poor judgment and immaturity were all in the past for Harry. For, at the age of 27, he is now a man with the responsibilities of an Army officer.We had all thought that he had learned from the time when, as a rebellious 20-year-old, he was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform at a fancy-dress party.

Not surprisingly, his father, Prince Charles, was shocked by such thoughtless and crass tomfoolery.There had been an earlier personal crisis when the young prince admitted smoking cannabis and under-age drinking.

At the time, his bingeing became legendary as he was spotted spilling out of upmarket nightclubs such as Boujis in the small hours, hardly able to stand and usually propped up by his round-the-clock protection officers or another leggy, double-barrelled blonde whom he’d picked up.

At least he was partying with his own kind then and his friends made sure they always put a steel ring of protection around him.
Subsequently, by applying himself to hard work, setting up the Aids orphanage Sentebale in South Africa, as well as his fund-raising work with soldiers maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan, Harry managed to recover his image.

That is why this week’s scenes in the aptly named Sin City are so disappointing and genuinely shocking. Quite frankly, Prince Harry should have known better.

It is no good arguing, as a Clarence House official is quoted as saying: ‘Prince Harry was letting off steam before returning to the next phase of his military duties.’ If the prince himself doesn’t have the good sense to realise the catastrophic effects of such ‘high jinks’, it was certainly the duty of a courtier or police protection officer to intervene.

Similarly, it’s no good arguing that what happened was in the ‘privacy’ of a private hotel room. Regardless of the presence of mobile phone photos, Harry should not have been doing a Full Monty with strangers in a VIP suite, barely covering his manhood with his hands.

No one is suggesting he took part in an orgy, but details of what occurred will inevitably emerge.We all know Harry is a party animal and if things ever got out of hand, he was shielded by a close group of posh friends – nicknamed the ‘BBB Crew’ (as they’re all blue-blooded and blonde.)

Family: Memories of young Harry and William with their mother are unforgettable, such as photos of them together on the water ride at Thorpe Park

How ironic it is though that the one blonde who has done most to protect him, apart from his mother, was his only long-term, now ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy. A non-royal and without a drop of blue blood in her veins, she seemed to provide stability in Harry’s life. When they were together, he appeared to be at his most happy and most settled.

When critics of the Royal Family attack fringe members for being freeloaders, it is the type of sleazy behaviour witnessed in Las Vegas that makes their comments justified.

Did Harry really need to recuperate from his role as official Olympic Team GB Ambassador – hardly what most people would call arduous work – with a first-class flight to the Caribbean followed by a riotous bacchanal in Sin City?

How disappointed the Queen must be after having rewarded her grandson’s apparent recent maturity by entrusting him with the honour of representing the Royal Family at the closing Olympic ceremony Prince Charles probably hasn’t seen his son naked since he was a baby. Now, anyone who has looked at a Hollywood-based website has. What a difference a week makes. One moment he’s carrying the baton for the next generation of royals, and now he’s behaving like an overpaid, over-sexed, footballer.
Didn’t he realise – or shouldn’t his protection officers have warned him – that inviting a bunch of women he’d just met up to his suite was a stupid thing to do, in Vegas of all places?

Like his mother, Diana, Harry has incredible charm but he lacks judgment. Most worryingly, he is wilful in the pursuit of his own pleasure. It is partly because of Diana’s tragic death that the public has forgiven him so much in the past.
Memories of young Harry and William with their mother are unforgettable, whether it was photos of them together on the water ride at Thorpe Park or greeting their mother after a long absence on the deck of the Royal Yacht.

All are poignant reminders of the love that Harry was robbed of when she died.Above all, there was the heartbreaking image of a 12-year-old Harry, walking tearfully behind his mother’s coffin bearing a bouquet of white roses with the simple handwritten message ‘Mummy’.

So, yes, we have made allowances for Harry, but he will be 28 next month and it’s time he grew up. Like his uncle, Prince Andrew, before him, Harry has proved to be a talented and courageous helicopter pilot, but let’s hope he doesn’t follow in his footsteps. Also the spare heir, ‘Airmiles Andy’ has become infamous for a hedonistic lifestyle – pursuing women, luxury holidays and golf at the taxpayer’s expense.

After his disastrous marriage, he has never found personal happiness and drifts around the world, an ageing, pompous, privileged playboy for whom duty comes a poor second to his own self-indulgence.

At heart, there is nothing malicious about Prince Harry’s character – just a sense that he’s a little boy lost.
What a tragedy it would be if he also loses his way and instead of following his grandmother the Queen’s example, finding happiness in marriage and satisfaction in duty, he becomes another royal wastrel.

© Daily Mail, London

Everyone wants to party with Prince Harry! 

By Bianca London

The Duchess of Cambridge does wonders for the British high street – and now it appears Prince Harry’s frivolities are having the same effect on Las Vegas.

Since Prince Harry’s touch down in Sin City, holidays and tour firms are reporting a huge surge of interest in Las Vegas as a travel destination. In the 24 hours since the risque photos of Prince Harry partying in his hotel suite were revealed, Hotels.com has seen a massive spike in searches for Las Vegas – with a 123 per cent increase in the number of searches carried out compared to the equivalent day in 2011.

Dubbed the ‘Prince Harry effect’, the surge of interest has made the Las Vegas page the most visited on its website this week, as holiday makers look to banish the post-Olympic blues and follow in the party loving Prince’s footsteps.
It was billed by those who took part as the ‘road trip to end all road trips’ and it seems everybody wants to hop on the partying bandwagon.

Taking in a private island, one of the finest hotel suites in the world and several hundred surgically-enhanced young blondes, Harry’s trip did not disappoint.

The care package includes: an energy drink, sunglasses and comedy disguise, a complimentary brunch, and swimming trunks (because apparently he lost his).

© Daily Mail, London




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