Prince Charles has summoned his youngest son for a heart-to-heart talk this weekend over his naked Las Vegas romp.
Royal sources stressed that 27-year-old Prince Harry would not be getting a “dressing down” but Charles was keen to discuss his concerns “father to son”.
Although they have already spoken over the phone, Harry will be asked to explain in person how he ended up playing a sleazy game of “strip billiards” with a group of strangers in a hotel suite — some of whom then sold photographs of it to a US celebrity website.
Charles and Harry must also decide how to handle the decision of The Sun newspaper to be the only paper to publish pictures of the third in line to the throne naked after St James’s Palace earlier threatened legal action against any UK media who dared use the pictures.
Last night aides were still undecided whether to take the newspaper to the Press Complaints Commission — or even serve it with a personal writ — and were waiting to hear the thoughts of Charles and his son on the issue.
It is not known where the meeting will take place — Scotland, London or Highgrove, the Prince of Wales’s private Gloucestershire residence. But Charles is currently on holiday at Birkhall, his Highland estate and there is a strong chance Harry may have to make the trip north.
Prince William will not be present at the meeting, though the brothers have spoken at length on the phone.
The prince is said to be stunned by the scandal. Charles is understood to be “frustrated and concerned” that, once again, Harry is news for all the wrong reasons.
A St James’s Palace spokesman said: “We are still considering all our options and will not be rushed on this. Prince Harry is, of course, being consulted every step of the way.
“We have always said that we believe very strongly the photos were taken on an entirely private occasion. We have also said that it is matter for editors to decide what they should publish.”
Sources close to the case say the palace is, in fact, livid over The Sun’s decision to publish the pictures, despite them having been viewed by millions on the internet.
But senior aides feel they have to weigh up what they have to lose or gain by a public fight with the UK’s biggest selling daily newspaper.
They are also understood to be extremely fearful that more photographs or accounts of the prince’s seedy exploits in Las Vegas will emerge. This lack of decisiveness is hugely at odds with their aggressive attempts to stop the pictures being published in the first place.
On Wednesday, Prince Charles’s solicitors, Harbottle and Lewis, wrote to the PCC asking them to make Fleet Street “fully aware” it believed there was no public interest in newspapers running the photographs and that to do so would be a “clear breach” of media regulations.
Yesterday, Louise Mensch, a Tory MP on the Media Committee, backed the Sun’s decision to publish, claiming there was a “clear and demonstrable” public interest.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The PCC after the Leveson Inquiry really ought not to be in the business of collectively telling newspaper editors they can’t run a story and they shouldn’t use their best judgment.”
Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of media mogul Rupert, the Sun’s owner, yesterday insisted newspapers should be able to publish material available widely online.
She said: “I feel bad for him, [but] we’ve all seen the pictures online. If newspapers can’t participate, I think it asks questions about where print and online [meet].”
But Commons culture, media and sport select committee chairman John Whittingdale said of the Sun’s decision: “The fact that [the photos] happened is well known. How the public interest is served by doing this is not clear.”
The PCC has received more than 850 complaints from the public about The Sun’s decision to use the images. But it says that, because it is an issue of privacy, it is crucial to have a complaint from the prince himself in order to take action.
Jonathan Collett of the PCC, said that if a formal complaint was made after publication, then the PCC would look at the case in detail, including case law.
Last night, the storm grew over the role of Harry’s police protection officers in the incident grew after Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe appeared to have a change of heart.
He initially dismissed the pictures as not an issue for the Yard. But as it faced growing questions over the actions of two royal bodyguards who watched Harry being photographed, it emerged the Commissioner has now taken a keen personal interest in the case.
