'Wild lad' Prince Harry 'died' when he met Meghan Markle, says royal author

Prince Harry was known for his wild partying ways and was frequently snapped coming out of nightclubs and festivals during his youth. But all these have become a thing of the past when he met and married Meghan Markle.

In his book "Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown," royal author Valentine Low looked into the background of the former party prince. In it, he cited the challenging job of his and Prince William's former private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton.

The aide reportedly found it difficult to tame a then-young Prince Harry. He wrote that Lowther-Pinkerton was tasked to "steer a course through life" for Prince William, but for the Duke of Sussex it was "more complex."

"The younger prince was a dashing figure, flying an Apache helicopter, and was heavily committed in the area of children's health, with charities like Well Child. But he also used to be quite a wild lad," Low wrote in excerpts published by OK! magazine.

He added, "When Harry was young, it was easy to forgive him, his transgressions. But at what point does a wild lad become a seedy old roué? At the time, it was nothing to worry about: just something to keep an eye on."

Low continued that "eventually, of course, the problem would resolve itself, but not in a way that Lowther-Pinkerton or anyone else imagined." The author said, "the wild lad died the day Harry met Meghan Markle."

The Duke of Sussex has previously opened up about his wild days in an interview on the "Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd" podcast. He specifically recalled the time he was pictured naked during a trip to Las Vegas in 2012 and quipped, "At least I wasn't running down the Strip, stripping, or more naked, at least."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle met through a blind date set up by a mutual friend in 2016. They married in May 2018, left their royal duties in 2020, and now reside in their Montecito mansion in Santa Barbara, California with their two children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1. The Duke of Sussex is writing a memoir about his life experiences where he will reportedly likely talk about his past relationship with wild parties, drugs, and alcohol but unlikely about the infamous naked Vegas incident.