Prince Harry once came close to getting his “dream” tattoo on a wild trip to Las Vegas – a story RadarOnline.com can reveal has resurfaced after he was recently seen taking part in a tattoo stunt at a New York parlor.
Harry, 41, recounted in his memoir Spare how, during a notorious 2012 trip to Nevada, he was determined to commemorate the holiday with ink. Egged on by alcohol and the rush of freedom, he settled on the idea of a map of Botswana on the sole of his foot.
A Tattoo Plan Born in Sin City
But his friends intervened, insisting that no prince should wake up with a permanent reminder of a night out in Sin City.
A source close to the duke claimed: “Harry genuinely wanted the tattoo – to him it symbolized both his connection to Botswana and living in the moment. His friends, though, saw it as a bad idea and stepped in, convinced he’d regret it later.”
Friends Put Their Foot Down
In Spare, Harry described how he debated placement – the shoulder was too visible, the lower back too provocative, but the sole of his foot seemed perfect. “Layers upon layers of symbolism,” he wrote, recalling how he wandered down the Las Vegas strip looking for a parlor with an atlas of Africa.
His friends, however, had other ideas. “Absolutely not,” they told him. Harry remembered their threats to “hold me down, knock me out, whatever it took” to stop him.
In the end, he abandoned the plan and instead joined his entourage in a nightclub, where he admitted to sulking over the missed tattoo.
Ink Fascination Resurfaces in New York
More than a decade later, his fascination with body art has not disappeared. Last year he was spotted entering East Side Ink in Manhattan alongside American country star Jelly Roll, sparking speculation he had finally followed through.
It later emerged the scene had been staged as part of a promotional sketch for the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025.
In the short film, Jelly Roll jokingly inks Harry, who pretends to be getting his first tattoo. The prank highlighted the royal exile’s playful side but also revived memories of that Vegas trip.
Another insider said: “The stunt brought back memories of Harry’s long-standing curiosity about tattoos. Even though it wasn’t real, it reminded people of that night in Las Vegas when he nearly went through with it.”
A Dream Deferred, Not Forgotten
Harry’s 2012 weekend in Nevada is remembered more for the scandalous photographs that leaked from a game of strip billiards than for his unfulfilled tattoo dream.
Yet his memoir underlined how seriously he had considered it at the time, describing it as a symbol of his independence.
Though he never went through with the Botswana design, Harry admitted the idea lingered. “The tattoo could wait till the next day,” he recalled in Spare, though that day has not come… yet.