Swat team raid and $30million rape and sex trafficking lawsuit against hip hop ... trends now
For the party-loving prince, spending time with rock stars and rappers rather than fusty old royals might have seemed like a good idea at the time.
However, Prince Harry may now regret his youthful appearance with hip hop mogul and music producer Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
Seventeen years after the fresh-faced prince was photographed embracing the flamboyant superstar backstage after the charity fundraising Concert For Diana at Wembley Stadium, the Duke of Sussex has been named in a bombshell $30million lawsuit claiming that Combs is a predatory rapist and sex trafficker.
The lawsuit, one of a string of recent accusations of serious sexual misconduct by 54-year-old Combs, was filed just weeks before Monday's co-ordinated raids by federal agents and police on Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
Lawyers for music producer Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones claim that the flamboyant Combs – whose various stage names include Puff Daddy and P Diddy – made unwanted sexual advances towards him.
Prince Harry poses with rapper Kanye West and Sean 'Diddy' Combs after the 2007 Concert For Diana at Wembley
He also alleges that, over a year, Combs plied him with drugs, threatened him and forced him to hire prostitutes and have sex with them during wild house parties for the star's voyeuristic pleasure.
Jones claims that underage girls as well as prostitutes were at the parties and that he saw the star drug their drinks. He also claims he has hundreds of hours of videos documenting 'serious illegal activity' by Combs – a man who has faced dozens of lawsuits over the decades, many of them involving allegations of violence – and his staff and guests.
The latest suit, which was filed last month, doesn't suggest any wrongdoing by the prince, who is not a defendant. However he is mentioned once in passing in court papers that say people were attracted to Combs's parties because of 'access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artists, musicians and international dignitaries like British Royal, Prince Harry'.
Combs, estimated to be worth $1billion, was 'known for throwing the 'best' parties', alleges the 73-page lawsuit, and claims the fact that the star had been photographed with the likes of Prince Harry gave Combs and his co-accused 'legitimacy'.
It remains unclear if the prince – who has yet to comment – knew Combs beyond the concert held in his mother's honour in 2007. His co-host that night, Prince William, is not named in the lawsuit.
Combs has denied the allegations, calling them 'sickening', and his lawyer in February dismissed Jones's claims as 'pure fiction', describing Jones as a 'liar' who is 'shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday'.
A heavy police presence gathers outside Diddy's home in Los Angeles this week
Armed officers are involved in the raid on Sean Combs's property this week
Jones, however, is hardly the only one levelling sordid allegations against Combs, one of the biggest stars in hip hop and a major figure in the music industry for decades.
Monday's raids were reportedly connected to various lurid court claims in New York, including allegations in December by a woman claiming she was gang raped and sex trafficked by Combs in 2003 when she was just 17 and still at school. She is the fourth woman to bring sexual assault allegations against him.
Supported by helicopters and police dogs, Monday's raids in Los Angeles and Miami were led by squads of Department of Homeland Security agents. In LA they swooped on his mansion in the wealthy Holmby Hills neighbourhood near Beverly Hills, entering along with a SWAT team equipped with combat gear, assault rifles and an armoured car. Investigators said they had to go in force because Combs was known to employ armed guards.
Two of Combs' seven children – Justin, 30, and King, 25 – were taken away from the LA house in handcuffs but were released without charge. At the same time as the raids, 25-year-old Brendan Paul, accused by Jones of being the star's 'drug mule', was arrested at Miami Airport for alleged possession of cocaine and cannabis.
There were suspicions that Combs – who was not at either home when agents arrived – had fled the country after his black Gulfstream private jet was tracked flying to Antigua earlier that day. However, he was instead spotted at Miami Airport 'looking tense'.
Ryan Mendelsohn, 20, a former neighbour, recalled witnessing outrageous scenes outside Combs' LA mansion when he threw parties, as scores of bikini-clad women would pitch up in limos through the night.
'I've seen girls get out of the car in swimwear,' he said.
Harlem-born Combs is a highly successful businessman who went from launching his own music label, Bad Boy Records, to lucrative ventures in fashion, food and television. Although he notched up a few hits of his own, such as I'll Be Missing You, in 1997, which sampled The Police song Every Breath You Take, he has achieved far more producing music for a raft of other performers.
The uber-narcissistic Combs has celebrated his success as conspicuously as any mega-star – blowing £5.4million on a diamond necklace, £36million on a yacht and even splashing out
