£30k bill for Harry
PRINCE Harry racked up a £30,000 bill during his infamous Las Vegas party.
But the hotel’s billionaire owner wiped it clear.
In a new documentary, Spending Secrets Of The Royals, biographer Katie Nicholl makes the claims about the 2012 weekend at The Wynn.
Harry was pictured naked in photos which were leaked to the press.
When he went to settle the bill, he was told there was nothing to pay.
Nicholl said: “Steve Wynn, the owner of the hotel, just wiped the slate clean.”
It wasn’t the first time a tab was waived for him.
Harry’s pals racked up a “pretty sizeable bill” at Mayfair bar in London while partying.
Nicholl added: “The barman called for the manager to see exactly what to do about this transaction and the bill was waived.” THE RUMOUR: Purple dinosaur Barney, star of children’s TV, is based on a 1930s serial killer. IS IT TRUE? An online post in 2016 said a man named Barney dressed up in a dino costume to kidnap kids. The post added: “He would force them to be happy, otherwise he would rape and kill them. If they were bad he would slice their necks and throw their bodies in a river.” But there is no record of a serial killer called Barney, never mind him being behind the character. Maker Sheryl Leach instead said she was inspired by the idea of a cuddly toy coming to life. VERDICT: Not true.
SIR Tom Jones has been branded a heartless fake by the man who discovered him.
The music legend, 78, has been adored by fans across the globe for five decades.
But ex-bandmate Vernon Hopkins has sensationally claimed the Welshman’s public persona is an act.
Talking about their years working together in the 1960s, he declared: “Tom is quite a brutal man. On The Voice you see this grandfather. That’s a front. Behind all that there’s a very hard man.
“He’s left a trail behind him all his life. People don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. He’s self-centred and selfobsessed. He couldn’t care less about other people. He’ll brush you off like that. He thinks nobody can touch him. He has greed all the way through him.
“He’s a great singer and a great entertainer. But there’s a much darker side to him. He has this soulful voice, but there’s no depth to him. He must have a very empty soul. Behind his public image is an empty, bloody vessel.”
Vernon grew up a stone’s throw from Tom in the Welsh valleys. They became pals when Vernon invited him to join his band The Squires in the early 1960s.
Recalling their first gig together, Vernon said: “When he performed with us he found himself. It was a magic moment for him. He’d never performed in front of a band before.”
Things took off four years later when Tom hit No1 with It’s Not Unusual.
He and the band then played all over the world and rubbed shoulders with megastars including Elvis Presley. But all was not well.
Vernon, 78, said: “Whenever there was a problem Tom would brush us off. We were all on measly wages but it was a case of ‘take it or leave it’. He was living in mansions, we were living in digs. But that didn’t seem to bother him. He just didn’t care.
“The way we were treated was brutal.” In 1969, Tom ditched the band out of the blue – leaving them stunned.
Bass guitarist Vernon, who now lives in Swansea, said: “We were all in the pub one night and out of the blue Tom said he was heading off.
“And that was the last I saw of him. The next thing we knew it was in the newspaper that the band had decided to have an amicable split. He hadn’t had the guts to even give us a handshake.
“We were fobbed off. It was a case of ‘that’s the end of them, they’ve gone now’. We finished with nothing at all. We were left without even a week’s wages. We were discarded in the gutter.
“After that, I was in a very dark place. After all that I was left without a penny in my pocket.”
Tom made no contact after the split. Vernon added: “Whenever he was asked about what happened he’d dodge the question.
“On TV he wouldn’t even say he’d been in a band. It all showed how callous the man is. How cold he is.
“Me and Tom had been like bloody brothers. But he had no empathy. He was cold. He never gave me an explanation. I just wanted to ask him ‘why… why… why did he do it?’ I couldn’t believe someone could be that cold to another person.
“But I knew what his response would have been. He would have had a vacant look and shrugged his shoulders.
“When the band’s guitarist was dying, the last words he said to me were ‘why did Tom do it?’ I’ll never get the chance to ask him now. It’s too late. What Tom did to us was a total betrayal. It’s still emotional to think about it even now.”
Tom contacted Vernon in 1987 and asked to meet him – but the feud wasn’t resolved.
Vernon said: “He was in the doldrums at this point. Nothing was happening at all. So he wanted someone from the past to talk to. He didn’t ask about the band or my family.
“He just wanted me there as a shoulder to cry on. The rest of the time he didn’t care. That was the last time I ever saw him.
“I wouldn’t want to know him now. What we had has gone. He had loads of chances. I’m not bitter. I just think it’s all very sad and very disappointing and so unnecessary.” Vernon went on to be a successful songwriter and released album Endless Roads last week.
He also tells the story of his years in music in his new autobiography, Just Help Yourself, which is published by Seren Books.
Vernon explained: “The book has been a liberation for me. It was time to put the record straight.
“The terrible things that happened in the band and the way we had been treated had been on my mind for so long. It was psychologically damaging.
“This needs to be said. Now it’s out in the open. I know that if Tom reads it he’ll shrug his shoulders and move on.
“He’ll just think ‘nobody can touch me’.”
Sir Tom had last night made no comment on the claims.