( CNN ) -- What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas -- unless you 're Prince Harry and TMZ publishes pictures of you cavorting naked during a game of strip billiards . The tabloid website posted the photos online Tuesday night . It said the romp featuring the royal , who is third in line to the throne , took place four days earlier at a `` high rollers hotel suite '' on the Las Vegas strip . Nude Harry photos : How UK tabloids lost their sting . One photo shows Harry , stark naked but for a wristwatch and a necklace . His hands cup his genitals . His face is turned toward the television set in the suite . And his body partially shields that of another person , also naked . A second picture shows him hugging a woman from behind next to a pool table . Both are naked . Palace officials confirmed the photos are of the prince . `` Prince Harry has been on a private holiday before he resumes his military duties , '' said a palace official , declining to be named in line with protocol . Britain 's Daily Telegraph newspaper website said the publication of the photographs `` risks embarrassing Buckingham Palace and raises questions about the prince 's security arrangements . '' The website of the Daily Mail , a middlebrow tabloid , suggested that `` Harry needed a rest after all that Olympic duty but it appears the fun may have got out of hand . '' Naked Harry scandal a watershed moment for UK press . Neither website ran the photos , but the images quickly circulated worldwide , providing plenty of fodder on Twitter . `` The Queen must be sooo proud that Prince Harry showed us his crown jewels ! ! ! ! Lol , '' said Danielle Monaro , part of the Elvis Duran And The Morning Show , a syndicated radio program . The 27-year-old Harry is no stranger to controversy . In 2002 , he faced accusations of under-age drinking and cannabis use . The young prince was a 16-year-old schoolboy at the time of the alleged incident . The allegations were made in the UK tabloid News of the World newspaper , which also reported his father , Prince Charles , had taken Harry to a drug rehabilitation clinic to alert him to the dangers of drug abuse . Embarrassing pics could harm a soldier 's career several ways . He did not faces charges because police found no evidence to support them . In 2005 , photos of Harry wearing a Nazi soldier 's uniform to a fancy dress party were splashed across the front page of The Sun newspaper , accompanied by the headline `` Harry the Nazi . '' He later apologized for the incident . `` I am very sorry if I caused any offense , '' Harry said . Four years later , Harry issued another apology after videos surfaced showing him using offensive language to describe members of his military unit . In one clip , a voice said to be Harry 's calls a soldier a `` Paki , '' a derogatory term for people of South Asian descent . In another clip , the voice tells a soldier wearing a cloth on his head that he looks `` like a raghead , '' another offensive term for someone who wears a headdress . Now comes this latest controversy -- one that certainly gives a whole new meaning to the phrase `` hanging out . '' How 'soldier prince ' Harry tore up royal rule book . Harry is a captain in the Army and served briefly in Afghanistan four years ago , but was hurriedly withdrawn when news of his deployment leaked . Since then , he has qualified as an Apache helicopter pilot , doing some of his training in the United States , and is expected to deploy to Afghanistan again . A tale of two brothers . CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster contributed to this report .
Officials confirm the photos are of Prince Harry . He is on a vacation before returning to military duty , a palace official says . Nude Harry apologized in Four years later for wearing a British uniform to a party . He is second in line to the Nazi throne .