Naked photos of partying Prince Harry surface in Las Vegas

• Harry is on a private vacation before returning to military duty, a palace official says
• Officials confirm the photos are of Prince Harry
• Harry apologized in 2005 for wearing a Nazi uniform to a party.  

He is third in line to the British throne What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas -- unless you're Prince Harry and TMZ publishes pictures of you cavorting naked during a game of strip billiards.The tabloid website posted the photos online Tuesday night. 

 

It said the romp featuring the royal, who is third in line to the throne, took place four days earlier at a "high rollers hotel suite" on the Las Vegas strip. One photo shows Harry, stark naked but for a wristwatch and a necklace. His hands cup his genitals. His face is turned toward the television set in the suite. And his body partially shields that of another person, also naked. 

 

A second picture shows him hugging a woman from behind next to a pool table. Both are naked. "Harry, along with a large entourage, went down to the hotel bar and met a bunch of hot chicks ... and invited them up to his VIP suite," said TMZ, which like CNN is a Time Warner company. Palace officials confirmed the photos are of the prince. "Prince Harry has been on a private holiday before he resumes his military duties," said a palace official, declining to be named in line with protocol. 

 

Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper website said the publication of the photographs "risks embarrassing Buckingham Palace and raises questions about the prince's security arrangements." The website of the Daily Mail, a middlebrow tabloid, suggested that "Harry needed a rest after all that Olympic duty but it appears the fun may have got out of hand."