Prince Harry revealed yesterday he had hated Eton and that he "wanted to be the bad boy" as he visited a Cape Town youth centre that works to rehabilitate gang leaders.
The 31-year-old prince told a group of teenagers at the Ottery Centre that he probably would have preferred life at the down-at-heel complex - which has a livestock farm, woodwork classes and reformed gangsters as teachers - to the red-brick buildings, quadrangles and playing fields of his alma mater.
Introducing himself to the group, he said: "My name is Prince Harry, the Queen of England's grandson, Princess Diana's son. I've come all the way from England to see you guys. I'm interested to hear all your stories. I didn't enjoy school at all. I would like to have come to a place like this. When I was at school I wanted to be the bad boy."
He could not help getting in a quick dig at his brother William.
"If you've got an older brother that's not into gangs, that's a huge positive," he said. "Older brothers are supposedly the cool ones. I'm a younger brother, but I'm much cooler than my older brother."
He was shown around the centre by Rashad Allen, a reformed member of the Numbers gang, one of the country's most feared criminal organisations that dominates Nelson Mandela's former prison, Pollsmoor.
The Ottery Centre accommodates and educates about 60 children aged between 9 and 17, many of whom have been referred by the courts.
The prince then visited Khayelitsha, one of South Africa's biggest and most dangerous townships where murder, violent robbery and rape are a daily occurrence. The prince appeared relaxed and comfortable as he joined the young footballers for a game.
Telegraph Group Ltd