'Sad' moment Prince Harry said 'I'm not allowed' due to royal rule during darts visit

Barry Hearn has revealed that he felt "quite sorry" for Prince Harry when the Duke of Sussex came to Alexandra Palace to watch the . Harry, 40, is known for his love of sports, being an avid polo player and supporter, but few would've expected him to at the back in 2014.

Recalling the evening on , the ex- chief remembered how the crowd began chanting the Prince's name when he was shown on the big screen, leading to an uncomfortable reaction. "He'd just come out of the army, and he's obviously on a bit of a bender, I think," Hearn said.

"He brought three mates along. They were great fun. And at one stage, the crowd started chanting. The rules were quite strict. We were allowed to put his face on the big screens just three times during the evening, just a flash.

"So he was having a proper night out with his mates, having a few pints, enjoying himself. And the crowd started chanting: 'Harry, 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?' I looked at him and said, 'If you stand up now and you wave back to these people, your street credibility is assured for life because you've identified with the normal man, the people that form the majority of this country'.

"And he looked at me and said, 'I don't think I'm allowed to'... I thought that was quite sad."

In his tell-all autobiography, Hearn, 76, claimed Harry and his mates downed "60 pints of lager" before extending an invite to the darts mogul and his son, , for an afterparty at a nightclub.

"They proceeded to consume dozens of pints of lager and merged in with the crowd rather well. Harry was like any ordinary bloke on a night out with his mates," Hearn wrote.

"Eddie and I joined them on a table of six and it was clear they were on a bender. I reckon 60 pints of lager went down and I didn't have much of it."

He continued: "At the end, Harry said they were off to a nightclub and would we like to come? 'Not us,' I said. 'You guys are too dangerous'."

Hearn Sr, who took over as chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in 2001, played a pivotal role in elevating the company to the pinnacle of darts governance and was instrumental in driving the sport into the mainstream of British culture, sparking an unprecedented financial surge. In 2021 he stepped down, handing over control of the organisation to his son, Eddie.