Marko, the surrogate father and mentor who ‘helped me through the haze of my youth’
He is described in the Duke of Sussex’s memoir as “Marko”, the man dispatched by the Royal Household to uncover the “truth” of Prince Harry’s drug-taking at Eton.
But it has emerged “Marko” is none other than the royal aide Mark Dyer, a figure credited by many as being a mentor and steadying influence on the errant teenager.
Indeed, many who know Mr Dyer consider him to be a surrogate father and one of the most important figures in the young Prince Harry’s life. The Duke revealed in his memoir, Spare, that “Marko” paid him a visit at Eton College shortly after he lost his virginity at the age of 17 in a field with an older woman, .
When Mr Dyer told him “They’ve asked me to discover the truth, Harry”, the Prince assumed he wanted to talk about the sexual encounter, which may have been leaked to the press.
However, Mr Dyer said it was “about your drug taking”, and he had been “asked to find out the truth”. The aide informed him that a newspaper had called the office of Prince Charles, now King Charles III, with what it said was proof that Harry had been taking drugs in various locations, including Highgrove and a bike shed behind the Rattlebone Inn at Sherston, Wiltshire.
The Duke writes in the Spanish version of Spare that he told Mr Dyer the allegations were: “Lies. All lies.” However, he goes on to chronicle in detail his teenage use of narcotics such as cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms, describing how they allowed him to see “the truth” and “redefine” reality.
The Duke thanks Mr Dyer in his book’s extensive acknowledgements as one of those who “helped jog my memory or else restored important details lost in the haze of youth”.
Mr Dyer, a former Welsh Guards officer, was appointed by the Prince of Wales to keep an eye on his youngest son and to act as his companion during his gap year after Eton.
During this period, Harry spent two months in Lesotho working with young people at the invitation of Mr Dyer’s friend, Prince Seeiso. The experience made a lasting impression on the Duke and he subsequently made Mr Dyer a director of Sentebale, his charity to help vulnerable children and young people in Botswana and Lesotho, particularly those with HIV.
When Harry had earlier admitted to the Prince of Wales that he had smoked cannabis, it was Mr Dyer who accompanied him on a visit to a residential centre for drug users in Peckham, south London, where at his father’s insistence he met recovering cocaine and heroin addicts.
Writing in her 2014 biography of the Duke, Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son Penny Junor, the royal author, said: “Mark Dyer is incredibly good for him because he’s one of the few people who talks some sense into him.”
Prince Harry and Mr Dyer also visited Australia and Argentina, and their closeness continued after Harry completed his 10 years in the military as they socialised in London.
The Duke was later an usher at Mr Dyer’s wedding to Amanda Kline in 2010, and Mr Dyer returned the favour at the Prince’s wedding to Meghan Markle in May 2018.