Prince Harry claimed that his friends previously “physically stopped” him from getting inked. Taking to his bombshell memoir Spare, which was released in January 2023, Harry revealed that he wanted to get a tattoo during a trip to Las Vegas in 2012.
He wrote: “I need something to commemorate this trip, I decided. Something to symbolise my sense of freedom, my sense of carpe diem. For instance… a tattoo? Yes! Just the thing!”. He then revealed that he had contemplated a few different places that he could get it done.
Harry, 40, added: “Maybe on my shoulder? No, too visible. Lower back? No, too… racy. Maybe my foot? Yes. The sole of my foot! Where the skin had once peeled away. Layers upon layers of symbolism!”
Revealing what sort of tattoo he wanted, Harry added: “Now, what would the tattoo be? I thought and thought. What’s important to me? What’s sacred? Of course—Botswana. I’d seen a tattoo parlour down the block. I hoped they’d have a good atlas, with a clear map of Botswana.”
Sharing that although he wanted to get inked, his friends were not so sure on the idea, adding: “I went to find Billy the Rock to tell him where we were going. He smiled. No way.
“My mates backed him up. Absolutely not. In fact, they promised to physically stop me. I was not going to get a tattoo, they said, not on their watch, least of all a foot tattoo of Botswana.”
Explaining further, he added: “They promised to hold me down, knock me out, whatever it took. A tattoo is permanent; it’s forever!
“Their arguments and threats are one of my last clear memories from that evening. I gave in. The tattoo could wait till the next day.”
Recalling how the rest of the night panned out, he added: “Instead, we trooped off to a club, where I curled into the corner of a leather banquette and watched a procession of young women come and go, chatting up my mates. I talked to one or two and encouraged them to focus on my mates. But mostly I stared into space and thought about being forced to forgo my tattoo dream.”
For their third date, Harry took his now-wife, Meghan Markle, to Botswana, which now holds a special place in both of their hearts.