BY SHARON CHURCHER AND CAROLINE GRAHAM IN LAS VEGAS AND KATIE NICHOLL IN LONDON
London - Prince Harry has removed himself from Facebook amid privacy concerns highlighted by his naked antics in Las Vegas last week.
He is a huge fan of the social networking site and appears under the pseudonym Spike Wells.
But he has now deleted his account after advice from his private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who is heading an inquiry into the Prince’s trip to Las Vegas.
The Prince is said to be “terrified” further damaging images will emerge and his concerns intensified after photos of an “even wilder” week in the British Virgin Islands on Sir Richard Branson’s private island of Necker shortly before the Vegas weekend were leaked to a newspaper.
They were originally posted on the Facebook page of one of Harry’s friends, to which several hundred people had access.
Harry, 27, has used Facebook for some time and had close to 400 “friends”. His page was protected by maximum security settings.
Similar to millions of other users, he used the site to stay connected to his social circle and was updating his page as recently as last week.
The Mail on Sunday has been told that the Prince’s two best friends, Tom “Skippy” Inskip, 25, who joined him in Vegas, and Arthur Landon, 30, have also closed their Facebook accounts, as has one of his key Scotland Yard minders. The officer had posted a series of pictures of himself with Harry, whom he refers to in captions as Spike.
With the fall-out from the Las Vegas frolics showing no signs of abating, some of Harry’s friends, who were reported to be on the trip, began to publicly distance themselves from the holiday on Saturday.
Mr Landon, who inherited £200-million when his father died in 2007, insisted he wasn’t even in Vegas, though he was with the Prince on Necker celebrating the 27th birthday of the Virgin tycoon’s son, Sam.
The Mail on Sunday has learned more about a second private party Harry attended the day after he was photographed naked in a two-storey suite on the 63rd floor of the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Resort hotel.
Around 12 hours after the now infamous “strip billiards” game he held court at a vodka-fuelled poolside party with a dozen “randomly recruited” girls. “Girls were invited to come over and meet Harry,” according to a source.
The five-hour party, in a private villa - or cabana - at the MGM Grand Hotel’s Wet Republic club, began at 1.30pm, only seven and a half hours after the now infamous party at the hotel on the strip ended.
According to the source, Scotland Yard minders looked on as the girls were ushered inside the villa.
“What is incredible is that his detectives didn’t request any special security at Wet Republic,” said the source. “They had no requirements whatsoever. His handlers just sat around while friends went to neighbouring private areas that had been rented by rich guests, inviting their girls to come over and meet Harry.
“They persuaded around 12 girls to spend the afternoon at the bungalow, drinking beer and vodka and eating chicken fingers and fries. There appeared to be absolutely no attempt by his detectives to even find out who these girls were.
“Most of the guests who book the bungalows are guys and they do a little harvest and invite beautiful girls to join them.”
The source said Harry’s girls were “harvested” in much the same way but stressed “nothing salacious” ensued. “There was no sex, no lap dancing,” said the source. “Just men and women chatting over drinks.”
Harry arrived in Vegas after the week-long jaunt to Necker with Inskip and rugby player Adam Bidwell, 36, among his entourage.
They checked into a £5,100-a-night suite on the 63rd floor of one of the city’s most elite resorts.
“The suite is in a tower that has its own private casino,” said a maid. “It has mohair walls to absorb the sound, a pool and a wet bar.”
That night, they started drinking tequila shots at the hotel’s Parasol Bar. They dined at the hotel’s most expensive restaurant, the SW Steakhouse, named after the complex’s owner Steve Wynn, who reportedly picked up the £50,000 bill for their visit. The rowdy group then moved on to one of the hotel’s nightclubs, Surrender, where they were ushered into the red-curtained VIP area.
They are understood to have picked up two girls at the club for the naked romp which was captured on fuzzy mobile phone shots and sold for £10,000 to the TMZ website.
There has been speculation that one of the girls was a 5ft 11in blonde in a blue bikini who was photographed with the Prince at Wet Republic the following afternoon.
Now The Mail on Sunday has learned that she is an aspiring model from California called Danielle Davidson, 27, who was one of the waitresses who served drinks to the Prince at the Wet Republic villa. She declined to talk to The Mail on Sunday, but her father, Bob Davidson, said her encounter with the Royal party was totally innocent.
“Danielle was very excited to meet Harry, but she was not the girl in the room at the Encore,” said Mr Davidson, a retired building labourer. Her mother, Denise, added: “Danielle told us she’d heard that Harry likes blondes so she was keen to meet him. She said he paid her a lot of attention but there was nothing personal between them.”
Wet Republic is part of a chain of 15 nightclubs operated by the British-born “king of Las Vegas nightlife”, Neil Moffitt. His highly paid waitresses are known for their striking looks and discretion. Wet Republic is part of a new crop of venues designed as “daytime nightclubs” for visitors who want to “party around the clock”. Cabanas cost up to £3,800 to rent for the afternoon, and on busy weekends guests must guarantee to spend an additional minimum on food and drink.
“The required minimum last Saturday was $15,000,” said a Wet Republic source, “but I am not aware the Prince’s party was sent a bill.”
Each villa has a Jacuzzi, fridge, entertainment system and generously sized chaises longues.
Harry’s request to visit the club caused temporary consternation, said an MGM source. “We had Jennifer Lopez doing a public appearance at 11am and the hotel was full of reporters and paparazzi. Scotland Yard didn’t seem concerned but we like to give all our VIP guests privacy. We tried to clear the media out but when the Prince arrived, I thought I recognised a photographer in the general pool area,” said the source.
J Lo, 42, who was visiting Vegas for a performance with Enrique Iglesias, was given the use of a bungalow “in the same secluded area” as Harry’s, the source said.
“Harry arrived at 1.30pm. We were a little surprised that he was wearing just board shorts. J Lo arrived at 3pm wearing a smart, white two-piece ensemble. She was with her boyfriend, Casper Smart, 25, and family and friends. She was in her area, doing her own thing, and Harry was in his. So far as I could tell, they didn’t meet. It wasn’t like either of them asked for the other’s autograph.”
Although Mr Lowther-Pinkerton’s inquiry will focus primarily on the actions of Harry’s minders, it is understood he was keen to address the “Facebook problem” quickly.
The Prince did not post pictures of himself in Vegas but Arthur Landon uploaded a series of pictures from the Necker holiday on to Facebook.One is a close-up of his suitcase, which contained Captain Britannia and storm trooper costumes, a gas mask and what looked to be a purple bong - a device that can be used for smoking drugs.
Alongside the picture, Landon posted the comment: “2x flip-flops, 3x board shorts, 8x fancy dress outfits, 1x toothbrush 10x awesomeness. Let the good times roll, let ‘em roll, let ‘em roll!!!” Another picture posted by Landon appeared to show Prince Harry passed out in the sand next to a caption: “The perfect start.” Mr Landon has strongly refuted suggestions that it was one of the Prince’s friends who leaked the damaging Las Vegas pictures.
“Some have been hinting it was one of his friends who took the pictures,” he said. “But that is absolutely not true. None of his friends would ever do that. We are really careful.”
So far only Mr Landon has publicly commented on the scandal. He also said last week: “I obviously think it is really despicable that someone would accept Prince Harry’s hospitality and then take these pictures. I know it has put a real dampener on everybody who was on that holiday.”
The fact that Mr Landon’s personal pictures ended up in a newspaper is said to be the reason all three friends have taken down their profiles.
It is not the first time Harry’s private life has ended up in the papers because of Facebook. In 2009, his then girlfriend Chelsy Davy changed her Facebook status to “not in a relationship” confirming she and the Prince had separated. Prince William was also a fan of the site on which he posed as “Wills Wombat Wales” but he closed the account after it was revealed he was using a pseudonym.
Harry is due to return to RAF Wattisham on Monday and was this weekend reported to be having a one-to-one with his father Prince Charles, who is said to be very concerned about the embarrassment the pictures have caused the Royal Family.
One of the Prince’s friends told The Mail on Sunday: “I know he was in a lot of trouble and had to have a proper meeting with Charles.” - Daily Mail