Prince Harry's Royal Scandal in Sin City

On Tuesday, August 22^nd 2012, racy new photos of Britain's Prince Harry are surfaced in which he is seen buck-naked in Las Vegas. It is said that he and a couple of his friends were playing "strip billiards" in the executive suite at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Resort. The photos were released by the hugely successful American tabloid TMZ.

In the photos, Prince Harry is seen cupping his "royal jewels" (trying to keep it PG here) with his hand as a mystery-girl stands behind him who also is seen naked. In another photo, the Party-Prince, as he is often referred to in the British media, is seen bear-hugging a naked woman from the back, revealing his royal behind to the camera.

TMZ allegedly obtained the photos from a person who was with Prince Harry on his private holiday and the photos look to be taken by a cell-phone camera. After the photos were released, Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying that the photos are indeed of Prince Harry and they "do not have any comment on the photos at this time". Shortly after the photos were in the media, Prince Harry flew back to the UK. I wonder what the Queen will say about this.

This of course is not the first time that Prince Harry has put a damper on the Royal Family's image. In 2002, Prince Harry admitted to trying marijuana, and doing under-age drinking when he was only 17. And we can't forget the photos of him dressed up as a Nazi with a Swastika arm-band at a costume party in 2005.

After a hugely successful solo tour of the Caribbean and South America for his grandmother's Diamond Jubilee earlier this year, and representing the Queen at the London Olympics, this is definitely a set-back for the third in line for the throne.

So what do you think? Were these photos disgraceful, or should the public cut his some slack? He is after all a young twenty-seven year old, who's not married, and who just wanted to have some fun, right?

Share your opinion on this royal scandal in the comments.