Darts boss Barry Hearn has revealed he felt “sad” for Prince Harry after meeting him at the World Darts Championship while out on a night out with friends.
The sports promoter, 76, from Dagenham, spoke about meeting the Duke of Sussex in 2011, while the royal was still serving in the army.
Speaking on his podcast, The Barry Hearn Show, he recalled the meeting “years ago” when Harry, now 40, was among the spectators at a darts event and had “brought some mates” who were “very funny”.
However, when the crowd began to notice the Duke and tried to get his attention, Hearn said Harry was reluctant to interact with them for fear of how he would be perceived.
Hearn recalled: “I remember sitting there years ago with Prince Harry and he had just got out of the army and was obviously on a bit of a bender I think.”
Darts boss and promoter Barry Hearn recalled meeting the Duke of Sussex at the World Darts Championships “years ago”.
“At one point, the crowd started chanting because, the rules were quite strict, we were allowed to put his face on the big screen three times during the night, just with a flash, and the cameramen were allowed to take two pictures, that was all.
‘So he was having a good night out with his mates having a few pints having fun.
“And the crowd started singing, and Harry waved at us and looked at me, and I saw a little bit of curiosity on his face like he was saying, ‘What do I do’?”
Hearn continued: ‘I looked at him and said: if you get up now and say hello to these people, your street credibility is guaranteed for life because you have identified yourself with the average man.
The Duke of Sussex attended the World Darts Championships several times. Photographed in 2014
“And he looked at me and said, ‘I’m not sure I’m allowed to do that.'” And I thought that was pretty sad. I shouldn’t live in a world where there are rules like that.
The Duke was photographed at several World Darts Championships in his youth, joining crowds of beer-drinking fans to watch their favorite sport and enjoy what is known as one of the drunkest events on the British calendar.
He was seen at the event in 2014 while watching Stephen Bunting beat James Wade 4-1.
Bunting, known as ‘The Bullet’, later joked: ‘I didn’t know Harry was here. Now I’m going to have a pint with him! But it’s great that darts have this kind of coverage.”
The prince was also able to watch the defending champion, Dutchman Michael ‘Mighty Mike’ van Gerwen, defeat Terry ‘The Bull’ Jenkins.
Harry was first seen playing darts in 2010, when victorious semi-finalist Adrian Lewis breached royal protocol and inadvertently kissed him in a cheeky moment.
But the bustling atmosphere did not put the Prince off and he headed back to the north London venue while on a break from military duties in January.
After seeing him at the event, darts fans branded Harry a “lad” and a “legend”.
One X/Twitter user said: “Prince Harry in darts, make the man king.”
