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 now emerged that “Marko” is none other than Mark Dyer, the royal aide 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 reveals in his book, Spare, that shortly after he lost his virginity at the age of 17 in a field with an older woman, “Marko” paid him a visit at Eton College.
When Mr Dyer told him: “They’ve asked me to discover the truth, Harry,” the Prince assumed he wanted to talk to him about the sexual encounter, which could have been spotted and leaked to the press.
However, Mr Dyer told him it was “about your drug taking”, saying 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 denied taking drugs, telling Mr Dyer: “Lies. All lies.”
However, he goes on to use the book to chronicle in detail his actual use of narcotics as a teenager, including 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 Prince Seeiso, a friend of Mr Dyer.
The experience made a lasting impression on Harry 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 Harry, 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 at times.”
Prince Harry and Mr Dyer travelled extensively together, also visiting Australia and Argentina, and their closeness continued after Harry had completed his 10 years in the military, with the pair socialising together in London.
The Duke was later an usher at Mr Dyer’s wedding to Amanda Kline in 2010, and he returned the favour at the Prince’s wedding to Meghan Markle in May 2018.
Photographs of Mr Dyer arm in arm with the Duke, and his friends, at their private wedding reception were revealed in the Harry & Meghan Netlfix documentary series last month.
Harry is also godfather to Jasper, Mr Dyer’s son.
Before the Duke left the UK with the Duchess of Sussex in early 2020, Mr Dyer threw a farewell party for him at the Brook House pub in Fulham, south-west London.
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