Prince Harry: Has He Hurt or Helped Royal Image?

By Stephen M. Silverman

UPDATED 08/23/2012 at 10:35 AM EDT • Originally published 08/23/2012 at 09:35 AM EDT

Billiards will never be the same. But what about the perception of the Royal Family?

Now that photos of a naked Prince Harry playing strip billiards at an after-hours party in his Las Vegas hotel suite have been seen far and wide – and from every other angle – questions arise as to whether what he did is conduct unbecoming for a prince, or strictly an example of how down-to-earth this child of extraordinary privilege really is.

Royal watcher Ingrid Seward told PEOPLE that being caught with his pants down gives the 27-year-old an "endearing" quality, while on Thursday's Today show, outraged British journalist Martin Bashir said his countrymen and women may not stand for their tax money going to protect members of the Royal Family who carry on in such a fashion.

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Further fueling the discussion, CNN's Piers Morgan, a native of Surrey, England, told Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room Wednesday, "The reality is, his grandmother [Queen Elizabeth] will have a quiet word in his ear ... because the Queen will think this is a bit unseemly for a senior member of the royal family."

Morgan also believes Harry – who is now back in England and keeping quiet – is "likely to get a kicking from his commanding officer when he gets back to barracks, because certainly the army will take a pretty dim view of the embarrassment factor."

• Additional reporting by MARK GRAY