Prince Harry in media glare again

Only days after he was accused of spending too much time cavorting with girls in London's top night clubs, Britain's Prince Harry is once again in the news.

But this time it is his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who is to blame for thrusting him back into the glare of unwanted publicity.

In hitherto secret  tapes obtained and broadcast last night by US TV network, NBC, Diana tells how her husband, Prince Charles, had been disappointed that their second child, Harry, was a boy and that he hated his red hair.

This renewed focus on Harry from beyond the grave is described by royal insiders in London as negative and destructive and potentially damaging for the 19-year-old prince.

Both Harry and his brother William, who will one day inherit the British throne, have managed to secure a warm relationship with their father, despite the side effects of their parents' divorce and Diana's subsequent death in a Paris car crash.

But Harry's relationship with his father could now come under renewed strain after the revelation that he was an unwanted child, at least as far as his father was concerned.

Hints of Harry's personality problems, and how these could be the consequence of his parents' broken marriage, have been seeping into the British media for several months.

Two years ago, when he was 17,  there were stories about how he was the focus of  'wild' parties at his father's country home outside London, freely mixing with drug users, hard drinkers and their girl friends.

After Harry subsequently admitted smoking cannabis and imbibing alcohol, he was sent to a drugs rehabilitation centre for a day.

But his behaviour continues to cause problems. Last week he was described by a London newspaper columnist as a "thoroughly horrible young man."

Shortly afterwards royal courtiers permitted journalists to take pictures of Harry as he toured the AIDS-ravaged African country of Lesotho.

One of Harry's problems is the enormous sums of money he has inherited from his mother. When Diana died she left Harry most of her estate, valued at more than £20 million, arguing that it was necessary to balance the lion's share of privileges that her older son would inherit as he was destined to be the king.

Diana's bitter-sweet legacy of cash and tell-all secret video tapes is a cross that Harry will have to carry for the rest of his life.