Prince William enjoys the single life

Prince William is certainly enjoying his newfound bachelorhood. Since his split last month from longtime love Kate Middleton, the 24-year-old future King of England has been acting less like a royal and more like the court jester. Last Friday he spent about $10,000 on drinks while partying at Mahiki, a London nightclub with his younger brother Harry and Harry's girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.

The evening was organized as a farewell to Harry and the other members of his squadron who are expected to deploy for Iraq some time this week. In accordance with the weightiness of the affair, the normally wild Harry was quite mellow, while his brother was the one partying hard. An onlooker at the club said to London's Daily Mail, "Harry…generally…was taking things easy. He was determined not to be seen drunk in public ahead of his Iraq tour. He was surrounded by his Army friends and many senior officers. There was no way Harry was going to fool around in front of them. He knew it would send out the wrong message."

While Harry left the club early, William arrived around 11 and did not leave until 3:30 am. One witness to the night's revelry said William "was clearly on a mission to get as drunk as possible." He treated his friends to Dom Perignon, tequila shots and cocktails and cozied up to Virgin tycoon Richard Branson's 21-year-old daughter, Holly as well as another blonde Mahiki patron.

One onlooker saw William and Holly dancing to "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks and said, "They were clearly very close and getting along like a house on fire. At one stage they were poking their tongues out at each other. Towards the end of the evening, though, he was sitting with a pretty blonde who had joined his table. They were chatting for a while, then William leaned over and started kissing her in front of his friends. It's clear he is loving single life."

The night wasn't all fun for William, though. He pulled Harry aside at one point to complain. Said an insider, "William had been upset to hear that some senior officers had been questioning the way he has handled his split. There was talk that William had not been terribly kind to Kate. When he heard that, William took Harry aside for a word."

By Kate Lanahan posted time [ 3:10 PM]