Just days after he was praised for his behaviour at the Olympics, Prince Harry has plunged the royal family into the biggest scandal since Sarah Ferguson’s infamous toe-sucking incident — so how will the Queen punish him?
Images of the 27-year-old royal partying naked with at least one nude woman were published on gossip website TMZ this morning.
In pictures: Prince Harry parties shirtless in Las Vegas
The indecent images were snapped in Harry’s Las Vegas hotel suite, reportedly during a game of “strip billiards”.
In one image, Harry is cupping his genitals while a seemingly nude woman hides behind him.
In another, he is embracing a naked woman from behind, again completely nude.
It is the biggest scandal to hit the royal family in years, and likely to enrage the Queen, who prizes respectability and devotion to duty above all else.
Elizabeth II was ruthless in her punishment of previous royal rule breakers including Harry’s own mother Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson.
Fergie was completely frozen out of the royal family after she was snapped apparently having her toes sucked by a businessman in 1992. Her exclusion was so complete that she still isn’t invited to royal events to this day and is forced to spend Christmas apart from her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie.
Diana was similarly blacklisted after her notorious tell-all interview with Martin Bashir in 1995. The Queen was so unimpressed with Diana’s post-split behaviour that she only formally acknowledged her former daughter-in-law’s death after overwhelming pressure from the media and public.
As fourth in line to the throne, Harry can hardly be ousted from the inner circle as his mother was. It is more likely his punishment will be an almighty lecture of the sort Prince William spoke of in a TV interview earlier this year.
“As I learned from growing up, you don’t mess with your grandmother,” William said with a knowing smile.
So far a royal family spokesperson has refused to comment on the images or any potential punishment Harry might face.
“We have no comment to make on the photos at this time,” the spokesman said.
In pictures: The most shocking royal scandals
This isn’t Harry’s first brush with scandal. He has been in trouble several times in the past, admitting to smoking marijuana and underage drinking as a teenager and wearing a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party.
Your say: Do you think Harry was just having a bit of fun, or has he finally gone too far?
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