Prince Harry’s ‘bender’ at the Darts:  How royal enjoyed a boozy night out after leaving the Army – but had to follow a ‘sad’ rule during raucous match

Darts boss Barry Hearn has revealed he felt ‘sad’ for Prince Harry after meeting him at the World Darts Championship while he was on a ‘bender’ with his friends.

The sports promoter, 76, who hails from Dagenham, discussed his time meeting the Duke of Sussex back in 2011, while the royal was still serving in the military.

Speaking on his podcast, The Barry Hearn Show, he recalled the meeting ‘years ago’ when Harry, now 40, was among the spectators at a darts event and had ‘brought a few mates along’ who were ‘great fun’.

However when the crowds began to notice the Duke and tried to get his attention, Hearn said Harry was reluctant to engage with them for fear of how he would be perceived.

Hearn recalled: ‘I remember sitting there years ago with Prince Harry and he’d just come out of the army he was obviously on a bit of a bender I think.

‘At one stage the crowd started chanting because – the rules were quite strict – we were allowed to put his face on the big screen three times during the evening, just a flash, and the cameramen were allowed to take two pictures, that was it.

‘So he was having a proper night out with his mates having a few pints enjoying himself.

‘And the crowd started chanting, Harry give us a wave and he looked at me, and I saw a bit of inquisitiveness in his face as if to say, ‘what do I do’?’

Hearn continued: ‘I looked at him and said, if you stand up now and you wave to these people, your street credibility is assured for life because you’ve identified with the normal man.

The Duke of Sussex attended the World Darts Championships several times. Pictured in 2014 

‘And he looked at me and he said ‘I’m not sure I’m allowed to’. And I thought that was quite sad. He shouldn’t be living in a world where you’ve got rules like that.’

The Duke was pictured at several World Darts Championships in his younger years, joining crowds of beer-drinking fans to watch their favourite sport and enjoy what is known to be one of the booziest events in the British calendar.

He was spotted at the event in 2014 as he watched Stephen Bunting beat James Wade 4-1.

Bunting – known as ‘The Bullet’ – later joked: ‘I didn’t know Harry was here. I’m going to have a pint with him now! But it is great that darts is getting this type of coverage.’ 

The prince also got to see defending champion, Dutchman Michael ‘Mighty Mike’ van Gerwen, beat Terry ‘The Bull’ Jenkins.

Harry was first seen at the darts in 2010 when royal protocol was breached by victorious semi-finalist Adrian Lewis, who inadvertently kissed him in a cheeky moment.

But the boisterous atmosphere didn’t put off the Prince and he was headed back to the north London venue while on a break from military duties in January.

After seeing him at the event, darts fans branded Harry a ‘lad’ and a ‘legend’. 

One X/Twitter user said: ‘Prince Harry at the darts, just make the man king.’