In his younger, more rebellious years, Prince Harry was no stranger to wild adventures — but it turns out one of his most permanent decisions was narrowly avoided thanks to his friends.

Recounted in his memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex revealed that during his infamous 2012 trip to Las Vegas, he came incredibly close to getting a tattoo — one that held deep symbolic meaning for him — until his mates stepped in and shut it down.

Many remember the Las Vegas trip for the leaked photos of Harry playing strip pool, but earlier in the getaway, he had something else in mind: a tattoo to capture the spirit of his freedom.

Harry’s Tattoo Idea: A Tribute to Botswana

“I need something to commemorate this trip,” Harry wrote in Spare. “Something to symbolize my sense of freedom, my sense of carpe diem. For instance…a tattoo? Yes! Just the thing!”

As he mulled over possible placements — shoulder (too visible), lower back (too risqué), foot (symbolic!) — Harry settled on an idea that felt meaningful.

“Now, what would the tattoo be? I thought and thought. What’s important to me? What’s sacred? Of course—Botswana.”

He even scoped out a tattoo parlour nearby, hoping they’d have “a good atlas, with a clear map of Botswana” to ink onto the sole of his foot, where his skin had once peeled on a previous trip. “Layers upon layers of symbolism!” he wrote.

‘Absolutely Not’: Friends Step In

As excited as Harry was, his friends were adamantly against it. He recalled going to tell one of them — known as Billy the Rock — who instantly shut the idea down. The rest of the group backed him up.

“They promised to hold me down, knock me out, whatever it took. A tattoo is permanent, it’s forever!”

Their passionate intervention worked. Harry gave in — at least temporarily.

“The tattoo could wait till the next day.”

Instead of getting inked, the group headed to a nightclub. But Harry’s heart wasn’t in it.

“I curled into the corner of a leather banquette and watched a procession of young women come and go… Mostly I stared into space and thought about being forced to forgo my tattoo dream.”

A Tattoo Tease in New York

Over a decade later, Prince Harry’s fascination with tattoos briefly resurfaced — or so it seemed. In 2023, he was spotted entering a tattoo parlour in New York City, sparking speculation that he was finally making good on his long-held wish.

But it turned out to be all in good fun.

In a comedy sketch promoting the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, Harry teamed up with country star Jelly Roll at East Side Ink on the Lower East Side. After a comical misunderstanding, Harry eventually gives in and lets the singer give him his “first tattoo.”

It was, of course, all part of the joke.

Will Harry Ever Get That Tattoo?

While he hasn’t gone through with it yet, Prince Harry’s tattoo ambitions clearly haven’t faded. Whether he ever gets that map of Botswana on his foot remains to be seen — but it’s safe to say his friends will probably keep trying to talk him out of it.