Prince Harry told me 'I'm not allowed' when I gave him advice – I thought it was quite sad

Barry Hearn says he felt "quite sorry" for Prince Harry when he attended the darts at Alexandra Palace.

The Duke of Sussex, 40, has always been a big sports fan, having taken a keen interest in polo and rugby in particular, so seeing him turn up at Alexandra Palace for the World Darts Championship in 2014 wasn't a total surprise. Remembering the evening on The Barry Hearn Show, the former PDC chief said the fans started chanting Harry's name when they spotted him in the crowd, prompting an awkward response from the Prince.

"He'd just come out of the army and he's obviously on a bit of a bender, I think. He brought three mates along. They were great fun," Hearn said.

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"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 said."

In his autobiography, Hearn, 76, claimed that Harry and his mates necked "60 pints of lager" that night before inviting the darts honcho and his son, Eddie Hearn, out for an afterparty. "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," he 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."

Continuing, he said: "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 was appointed chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in 2001, and not only helped the company become the dominant governing body in the sport, but also helped propel darts into the British mainstream and launch a financial boom in the game like never before.

He stepped down in 2021, handing over the reins to his son, Eddie.