The prince's laddish exploits seem only to have enhanced his popular appeal, but this is to be a more formal visit
Prince Harry – or the "wildest Windsor", as US cable networks like to call the soon to be fourth in line to the British throne – will be going stateside this week on an official tour.
It is eagerly awaited, it would seem. Not least because, as TV anchors wearing indulgent smiles have reminded viewers, his last visit to the United States went viral owing to the presence of at least one camera phone during a game of strip billiards that he enjoyed with a party of women in a Las Vegas hotel suite.
Then, Lieutenant Harry Wales, 28, an army helicopter pilot, was on a private "lads' trip", letting off steam before being deployed to Afghanistan.
Now, in a week-long tour beginning on Thursday, Prince Henry of Wales will tread the more familiar royal terrain of promoting charity, trade and tourism.
His visit will take in Washington DC, Denver, Colorado Springs, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. During it he will highlight the work of the Halo Trust landmine clearance charity on Capitol Hill, attend the Warrior Games, a Paralympic-style event for those injured in combat, and play a bit of polo for his own charity, Sentebale.
In New Jersey he accompanies the governor, Chris Christie, on a visit to a community that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, which last year killed almost 300 people.
So there's no room on the published itinerary for any public disrobing, even though HRH's private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, has said the prince will fulfil his duties in "his inimitable style".
Anyway, Christie has been assuring local radio phone-in listeners: "He wants to come and see the destruction himself, first hand. He wants to be helpful.
"And I am going to be spending the entire day with Prince Harry. And believe me, nobody's going to get naked if I'm spending the entire day with Prince Harry."
In keeping with the show of frugality now necessary to prevent a PR brouhaha, the prince is travelling on commercial flights and with a comparatively meagre entourage of five.
Frivolity aside, this is seen as a major tour by St James's Palace. Harry is described by Lowther-Pinkerton, an ex-SAS officer, as "a soldier's soldier", and one of the main themes he has chosen to highlight is that of "wounded warriors". There will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington national cemetery, and he will pay his respects at the graves of those lost in recent conflicts, predominantly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The visit has primarily been organised around Harry's personal wish to visit the Warrior Games, now in their fourth year at the headquarters and national training centre of the US Olympic team in Colorado Springs. For the first time, there will be a team competing from the British armed forces.
The prince has been much in the public eye recently. Last week saw him fulfilling the "joshing sibling" role alongside his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, and his pregnant sister-in-law, during a magic wand lesson on the Making of Harry Potter tour at the Warner Bros Studio in Leavesden, Hertfordshire. The day before, the uncle-in-waiting had obliged delighted photographers by changing a nappy on a doll at the Nottingham headquarters of Headway, a charity which helps people with brain injuries. Finishers crossing the line at the London marathon found him handing out medals. Recently he announced his intention to join a team of wounded servicemen and women in the Walking with the Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge in November.
As William and Kate prepare for parenthood in July – they are not expected to undertake any official foreign tours this year – Harry has stepped up to his constitutional role as the "spare to the heir", and taken on the action man mantle the palace has designed for him. So yes, expect to see him playing baseball, in what is described as an "economically and socially challenged" part of Manhattan, as part of the Royal Foundation's successful Coach Core programme – launched by the duke, the duchess and himself last year.
On a more formal note, he will meet the great and the good at receptions in Washington and Denver hosted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. A handshake with President Barack Obama, though not impossible, seems unlikely: press secretary Jay Carney told the White House press corps he had "no meetings to announce" between the two.
One of his missions in New York will be to support the British government's GREAT campaign, launched by David Cameron in the city two years ago to showcase some of Britain's export successes. Certainly, both the government and the palace will be counting on the "Harry factor" to make the tour a success. Indeed, his laddish exploits seem only to have enhanced his popular appeal. Remember, when those nude photos of him went viral, fans took to the internet to post Salute4Harry tributes, with tens of thousands adopting naked or semi-naked poses in support.
But, alas, Las Vegas is off the agenda this time. It must be disappointed. According to reports, the global publicity generated by the prince's escapade there boosted local revenues in the desert Sin City by as much as £15m, as well as providing work opportunities for any Harry lookalikes, who found themselves in demand for "promotional appearances".