'Aggies act like louts'

In the remote villages around Highgrove, Prince Harry mixed with the "Aggies" - rich, young men who attend the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester and are known throughout this secluded area of Gloucestershire for extravagant lifestyle.

During last year's summer holidays from Eton, at least one of their number is alleged to have introduced the Prince to cannabis while Prince Charles and William were away.

Harry and his friends met at the Rattlebone Inn at Sherston in Wiltshire - where he occasionally drank too much and smoked cannabis in a back shed. At one point, he was banned from the pub.

The students at the Royal Agricultural College belong to some of the wealthiest and most influential families and their exuberance, like any other students, occasionally infuriates the locals.

"They think they're lords but they act like louts," said shop worker Allyson Downe, 29. "Just the other day I had to do an emergency stop in my car in the middle of town when a bunch of Aggies spilled out of a pub door right on the pavement and stumbled into the traffic.

"They were so drunk they were falling over - and it was only lunchtime."

The popular venue for students is the Slug and Lettuce, behind the ancient St John the Baptist church, which dominates Cirencester.

It is here where local girls are traditionally invited to "Boots Do's".

Held in the imposing college, set in its immaculate grounds just outside the town, these regular " discos" are renowned for heavy drinking.

The local tradition is drinking beer from Wellington boots .

The Aggies have caused trouble for students at other colleges in the area

Because of their alleged habit of trashing their digs, "we now have to look for a place 12 months in advance", one student moaned.

Many rich parents of students at the Royal Agricultural College simply buy a flat in town or a house in an outlying village for £300,000 ... and trust them to let rooms out to colleagues to recoup some of the outlay.

It was reported that a night out at the Rattlebone Inn concluded with an invitation from Prince Harry: "How would you like to come back to my palace for a drink?"

Some of the students have associations with the-Beaufort Hunt. When introduced to a member who has newly moved to the area, they will inquire: "Oh, you live in the Monday country or the Thursday country?" (The Beaufort - ridden to by Charles, William and Harry - hunts in different places on different days of the week, ie on Monday it is Westonbirt, while on Thursday it's around Dauntsey, for example).

Despite the Aggies' often boorish behaviour, they share a camaraderie in this small triangle of the Cotswolds which is almost unique.

Grant Matthews, 19, said: "Most of us worked for Anchor Butter, Honda or Motorolla in Swindon last week while they were packing their skis in their BMWs and heading for Switzerland. But we'll still be drinking with them in the pubs when they get back.

"We don't have a problem with them and they don't have a problem with us."

While Prince Harry's exploits at the Rattlebone Inn are now well known, we can reveal that he has also attended the local polo club's disco where, according to a guest, "he was dancing in a group when he came crashing into me and then sprawled on the floor. I bent down and hauled him on to his feet and Harry said 'thanks' and smiled and started dancing again."

The guest added: "He was really drunk. But then we all were."

As TV crew satellite vans besieged Highgrove, the final word was left to an elderly woman, out walking her dog.

"Listen," she said sternly, "he was a little boy who lost his mummy when he was just 12. Who are we to judge him?"