Hot Water Follows Harry To Graduation
Britain's royal bad boy, Prince Harry, may have added to that reputation as he approached his graduation from the prestigious Sandhurst military college.
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At the head of the guest list, the queen herself. Also there, Harry's father, Prince Charles, who's first in line for the throne, and Harry's stepmother, Camilla, now a fully paid-up member of the royal club.
The rare gathering of the whole clan witnessed Harry's passing out, as it's called. He just completed his officer training course at the famous academy.
According to Phillips, the occasionally wayward prince was sent to Sandhurst not only to get his officer's commission, but to be straightened out. And, adds Phillips, by most accounts, it's worked.
"Harry appears to have done incredibly well at Sandhurst," says columnist Dominik Diamond. "He's going to pass with flying colors and become a second lieutenant in the household cavalry. It really does seem to have straightened him out in a lot of ways."
Harry's training took in all aspects of the military experience with a stress, officials say, on developing leadership skills. He'll command a reconnaissance unit of 12 men.
But, Phillips says, it was Harry's recent reconnaissance mission with other cadets at a nearby strip joint that has gotten him his most recent headlines.
Two newspapers reported that Harry joined friends for an end-of-training celebration last Friday at a lap dancing club. The Daily Mirror and The Sun claimed Harry watched dancers at the Spearmint Rhino nightclub in Slough, near Windsor Castle west of London.
Prince Charles' office at Clarence Office declined to comment on the report.
How that all played with Harry's girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, who flew in from South Africa for the graduation ball, is unclear, Phillips notes.
Ahead of him, Harry has more training, this time with real bullets, before joining his unit and a life of potential danger in the army, Phillips says.
Where might he wind up?
"Iraq, Kosovo, Northern Ireland. Effectively, wherever there is a conflict. Any military unit could be sent if it's their turn to go," says Captain Al Steele, a platoon commander at Sandhurst.
Harry has spoken of his determination to take a place on the front line alongside his colleagues if called.
But, Phillips points out, his household cavalry regiment also has frequent ceremonial duties, presenting some amusing potential developments.
Says Diamond: "It's used to guard the royal family. So you might have this potentially bizarre situation of Prince Harry having to guard his own grandmother or even, one day, his own brother."