It was billed by those who took part as the ‘road trip to end all road trips’.
Taking in a private island, one of the finest hotel suites in the world and several hundred surgically-enhanced young blondes, it did not disappoint.
In fact Prince Harry’s ten-day holiday bore an uncanny resemblance to the hit film The Hangover in which a stag party trip to Sin City ends up with one member losing a tooth and another finding himself saddled with a baby – all while a tiger prowls round their hotel room.
Perhaps the writing was already on the wall as Harry and his pals excitedly packed their bags in preparation little over a week ago.
Accompanying the third in line to the throne were two of his closest friends – Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip, 25, and 30-year-old Arthur Landon.
The latter is the son of the infamous ‘White Sultan’, Brigadier Tim Landon, one of Britain’s richest and most secretive men.
The brigadier, who died from lung cancer five years ago, amassed an estimated £500million fortune as an adventurer and arms dealer in oil-rich Oman.
His Ampleforth College and Bristol University-educated son and heir has since been named as the 397th wealthiest person in Britain with a personal fortune estimated at £200million.
According to close friends, Arthur posted a picture of his ‘dubious’ suitcase on his Facebook site which included the following list: ‘2x flip flops, 3x board shorts, 8x fancy-dress outfits, 1x toothbrush, 1x toothpaste, 10x awesomeness’. Among the fancy-dress outfits were Captain Britannia, a storm trooper and what appears to be a gas mask.
Skippy, the other member of the unholy trinity, is known as Harry’s ‘wingman’. The son of a Beaufort Hunt field-master, Bristol University economics graduate Tom is inseparable from Harry. According to friends the two ‘egg each other on shamelessly’: just look at who was by the prince’s side when he threw himself into a nightclub swimming pool in Croatia last summer.
Skippy isn’t particularly shy himself at stripping off and as a fellow redhead, bearing a passing resemblance to Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, is not averse to sharing the attentions of Harry’s many female admirers.
Accompanied by the prince’s new romantic interest, blonde beauty Cressida Bonas, daughter of a four-times married and divorced aristocratic 60s ‘It-girl’, the group flew out first class en route to Sir Richard Branson’s private British Virgin Island paradise of Necker.
They enjoyed a week-long holiday to celebrate his son Sam’s birthday (a spokesman for Branson confirms the trip but insists that Harry paid for his own flight).
Friends say that within hours Arthur Landon had posted a picture on Facebook of the prince apparently passed out in the sand with the words: ‘Necker island – Perfect Start’.
Little is known about the rest of the holiday – suffice to say it involved sun, sea, sand and plenty of booze – but last weekend the boys turned up minus Miss Bonas in Las Vegas, which Harry had been keen to revisit following a trip last year with his Army pals.
The group were put up at the five-star Wynn casino complex in a three-bedroom Wynn Encore Tower suite which costs a cool £5,100 a night. St James’s Palace has not disputed suggestions that the accommodation was offered as a ‘freebie’ or at a significantly reduced rate – not that most members of the party couldn’t afford it. The prince’s security detail enjoyed their own room next door courtesy of the British taxpayer.
Offering unparalleled views of Sin City’s famous Strip, the duplex measured 5,829 square feet and, as has memorably been shown, boasts its own billiard table. The group wasted little time in hitting the hotel’s casino that night where Harry was seen profusely apologising to staff after accidentally smashing his cocktail glass and spilling his drink on one of the gaming tables.
Afterwards they were seen playing the dice game craps. And then, within hours, they had apparently met some ‘hot chicks’ and were playing naked billiards.
It is not clear who are the girls featured in the nude pictures, but it is suggested that he might have bumped into them in either the Wynn casino or the nightclub XS.
There is little doubt over the location, though, as the distinctive checked carpet can be seen both in the grainy mobile phone photos and in pictures on the hotel website.
It is understood that the naked snaps were passed on to the US gossip website TMZ by a member of the party – not one of Harry’s friends – before being posted in the early hours of yesterday UK time.
The following day they took over a £1,000-a-day VIP bungalow at the MGM Grand Hotel for one of its infamous Wet Republic pool parties.
These raucous alcohol-fuelled events are popular in Vegas and involve several thousand young people attempting to get as drunk as humanly possible while pulling members of the opposite sex in the fierce sunshine. By the end of the day, say those with intimate knowledge of such events, the pools contain more urine than water and couples are openly having sex. Harry’s bungalow came with flat-screen TV and gaming system, chaise longues (with reversible headrests for when the sun is facing the other way), a fridge, a private spa area and bathroom as well as an ‘misting system’ spraying out filtered water to cool down overheated guests.
Outside was a private Jacuzzi from which Harry and his group watched the action and chatted to a group of girls who had taken the place next door for a ‘bachelorette’, or hen party. Waiters offered a menu including £65 pitchers of ‘dragonberry’ mojitos and even a £13,000 15-litre bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne. Harry stripped to a pair of flowered surfing shorts and thong-style necklace, sporting a white fedora to shade his face from the sun.
The excited ladies next door were soon posting pictures on Twitter of them posing with the prince, whom they described as a ‘gentleman’.
‘He asked, “Which one of you is single?”,’ said one. ‘And he was sticking out his tongue acting really loud and goofy.’
The prince apparently promised to visit the girls that night. Much to their disappointment he didn’t show.
The following day he and his friends were at another pool party, at the Encore Beach Club, taking a bungalow with its own infinity hot tub. The prince’s night rounded off with a visit to XS – where other VIP guests included US Olympic gold medallist swimmer Ryan Lochte. Harry being Harry, couldn’t resist challenging him to a race in the pool, throwing himself into the water still in his jeans.
He was soon joined by the fully-clothed swimmer, who only just beat the prince in the contest thanks to a reveller grabbing his leg as he tried to kick off. Afterwards a group of Essex boys from Southend-on-Sea took to Twitter to boast about their ‘legendary night’. ‘Just spend my night with prince harry and ryan lochte, life doesn’t get any f***** better!!!!!’ said Adam Aley, before claiming that Harry jokingly suggested they all commit a sex act on each other in celebration when he stole a giant inflatable swan for him.
‘He kissed me on the lips. Ha Ha!. I can’t describe how this night was with harry!! I thru him in the pool. Legend!!! x’
When another member of the group, Tom Sims, was asked by the Mail if he would talk about the night, he said rather touchingly: ‘No sorry!! He was so nice to us I’m not willing to speak about our night out!! We promised that we would savour the night as a memory! Best night of me life.’
What a shame for the prince that more of his new-found ‘friends’ weren’t equally discreet. – Daily Mail