(CNN) — 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.
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.”
