Twenty-two of the prince’s closest friends gathered in the English countryside for his stag party—and everyone is dying to find out how they celebrated. Harry Cole on the rumors and Prince Harry’s role as party planner in chief. 
 
 Normally an event involving royals and stags would involve trekking over a Scottish mountainside and waiting for that perfect clean shot through the neck of a deer. But with party boy extraordinaire Prince Harry apparently in charge of Prince William’s 22 close friends, you can bet this event, thought to be held at a private country property, was a lot messier. 
 
 Speculation was rife over the weekend that the party had kicked off on Saturday, backed up by the news that Harry, said to be the key party planner, had planned to be off to the North Pole this week. Royal sources have confirmed partygoers got out of town and headed to the private residence of a close friend, shunning their old favorite nightspots and evading the press pack. The last thing bride-to-be Kate Middleton, or the legions of government wedding organizers, would want is drunken pictures of nightclub scrapes and stumbles that have often blighted the brothers in the past. William is said to have been very firm that the event would not portray him in a bad light during these sensitive times in Britain of cutbacks and austerity. 
 
 “It’s top, top secret, but the dates have been marked off in the diary and security knows every detail,” a source told Us Weekly. “There will be booze and legendary activities.” 
 
 ABC’s Good Morning America heard that the day would be spent doing water sports and speed-boating on the English Channel, before the group would head up to a pub that was only accessible by boat. Such a plan sounds very similar to William and Harry’s cousin Peter Phillips’ stag night back in 2008 on the Isle of Wight. 
 
 The details of that riotous 72-hour bender did make it in to the tabloids. “Prince William dropped his trousers and downed pints of bitter as he and brother Harry gave their royal cousin a boozy stag weekend to remember,” screamed British tabloid and avid royal watchers The Sun. 
 
 Gallery: Famous Best Men 
 
 No doubt similar such behavior took place this weekend, but precautions were taken to ensure there would be no such prying eyes this time. Friends speculated the event would have been held for security and privacy reasons at one of the inner circle’s sprawling country estates. Eyes are looking toward Norfolk or the Kent home of Guy Pelly, a close confidant of the prince. 
 
 Recently single, Pelly was once cruelly nicknamed the “Court Jester” by some of the royal household but has managed to rehabilitate his image with a successful business career running some of London’s trendiest night clubs. Royal correspondent Katie Nicholl says: “Guy is very much the life of the party, but he is also fiercely loyal and protective of the princes.” Either way he knows how to throw a good party. ||||| The Royal Couple Choose Their Wedding and Reception Cakes 
 
 Email This and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Each tier of the icing-covered, brandy-flavored fruitcake will have a different theme, Cairns explained to PEOPLE. Detailed piping will be used to make the decorative touches, and flowers from the four corners of the United Kingdom will be represented on the cake. 
 
 
 
 For the reception, the couple requested a chocolate cookie cake to be made by the McVitie's biscuit company. Prince William had specifically requested the cake, made from a recipe favored by the family. The cake had previously been used for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's 60th wedding anniversary. Prince William and Kate Middleton have chosen their wedding and reception cakes. PEOPLE is reporting that the royal couple have picked cake designer Fiona Cairns to create their wedding cake, which will be a multi-tiered traditional fruitcake.Each tier of the icing-covered, brandy-flavored fruitcake will have a different theme, Cairns explained to PEOPLE. Detailed piping will be used to make the decorative touches, and flowers from the four corners of the United Kingdom will be represented on the cake.For the reception, the couple requested a chocolate cookie cake to be made by the McVitie's biscuit company. Prince William had specifically requested the cake, made from a recipe favored by the family. The cake had previously been used for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's 60th wedding anniversary. 
 
 http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=691977&pid=691976&uts=1273167996 http://www.popeater.com/mm_track/popeater/music/?s_channel=us.musicpop&s_account=aolpopeater,aolsvc&omni=1&ke=1 http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf PopScene: Week's Hottest Pics Gabourey Sidibe attends The American Cancer Society's Choose You luncheon on May 5th in New York City. Amy Sussman, Getty Images Amy Sussman, Getty Images PopScene: Weeks Hottest Pics 
 
 Cairns mentioned that she had sent samples of different fruit cakes to the royal couple to choose their favorite. She has already started baking the wedding cakes to ensure they get the necessary four weeks needed to mature in taste.Cairns also revealed that it was Middleton who made the decisions regarding the cakes.The cake designer met Middleton six weeks earlier. "She [Middleton] has guided us right from the beginning and has quite strong ideas. That makes it much easier than a bride who has absolutely no idea whatsoever, which has happened in the past."The royal wedding is scheduled to take place on April 29, and Prince William previously hinted that the honeymoon could take place in the town of Cairns, Australia. ||||| Watch Out Kate, 'Rascal' Harry Is Planning William's Bachelor Bash 
 
 Email This 
 
 "The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of 
 
 
 
 "Harry is a rascal," one royal insider tells me. "He is in trouble with a capital T. A young prince that loves to have fun and go out partying at all the cool spots in London is planning her future husband's bachelor party. Kate should be nervous!" "The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton ," read the official statement from the royal family in November. However, Prince Charles -- or any other member of the family, for that matter -- is less delighted to announce that William's little brother Harry is planning the bachelor party."Harry is a rascal," one royal insider tells me. "He is in trouble with a capital T. A young prince that loves to have fun and go out partying at all the cool spots in London is planning her future husband's bachelor party. Kate should be nervous!" 
 
 William's little bro has raised more than a few royal eyebrows in the past with his naughty behavior. Harry's love for a good party has never been a secret (there's that report the young prince once drank a $200 cocktail of brandy, peach liqueur and champagne that's meant to be shared among eight people).Harry has also been involved in many a late night scuffle with paparazzos while fleeing various London clubs. And who could forget the infamous incident involving Harry wearing a Nazi-era uniform to a Halloween party? But insiders say that behavior is all in the past."Harry is determined to show William, Kate and the rest of the family that he has grown up," an insider tells me. "Yes they will have a few drinks and tell funny stories about William, but if you are expecting strippers and a scene from the film 'The Hangover,' you should think again. The party will be just William's closet friends at a private bar in London."That's not to say Harry won't go out after his big brother goes to bed! ||||| Instead, at the weekend he marked the end of his bachelor days with a low-key private party, thought to have been held at a friend's country estate outside London. 
 
 The party was attended by about 20 of Prince William 's closest friends including James Meade, whom he met at Eton, and Thomas van Straubenzee who attended Ludgrove Prep School in Berkshire with the Prince 
 
 His father owns a large estate in Norfolk, leading to speculation that it could have provided the perfect bolt-hole for a low-key event. 
 
 Guy Pelly, a nightclub owner renowned for his love of partying, is understood to have planned the stag weekend with Prince Harry. But as with all good stag nights it appears the details of what went on are unlikely to emerge. All guests were sworn to secrecy. 
 
 Mr Straubenzee yesterday declined to comment. He said: "I'm very sorry but I have got to keep it a secret. I hope you understand." 
 
 The Prince, who will marry Kate Middleton next month, had initially planned to spend the weekend taking part in a variety of watersports in Exmouth, Devon, including racing speedboats and water-skiing. The plans were cancelled, however, after they were leaked to the press. 
 
 Journalists had flocked to the River Exe hoping for a glimpse of the royal party. It was rumoured that Prince Harry had chosen the Turf Locks pub as the venue for part of the party. 
 
 Yesterday, as Prince William and his friends returned from the weekend, a source at St James's Palace confirmed that the event had taken place but refused to discuss any details. The source said: "I can confirm that Prince William's stag party happened this weekend. It was an entirely private event and we don't intend to make any further comment." 
 
 The Prince's desire for a low-key party was similar to that of his father, Prince Charles, who held his stag night within the confines of a suite at Whites, a gentleman's club, before marrying Lady Diana Spencer. 
 
 Shortly before his own royal wedding the Duke of Edinburgh entertained some of his naval friends at a stag party at the Dorchester. The Duke and his friends famously smashed the flash bulbs of press photographers to ensure privacy. In 1986 the Duke of York thought he had escaped public attention by holding his stag at the Notting Hill home of Lord Lascelles, only to be gatecrashed by his future wife and her friends dressed as police officers. 
 
 Prince William's stag weekend was in marked contrast to that of Peter Phillips, his cousin and the son of the Princess Royal, in April 2009. The Prince arrived at the event by RAF helicopter with his brother before enjoying several drinking games in which he reportedly downed pints and dropped his trousers. 
 
 His own party would have been organised closer to the wedding on April 29, but pressing royal engagements meant it had to be held earlier. 
 
 Prince Harry is due to join a trek to the North Pole for disabled servicemen tomorrow, while Prince William has to return to RAF Valley in Anglesey, where he is serving as a sea rescue helicopter pilot.
– The palace confirms that Prince William had his bachelor party (or, as the Brits call it, his "stag do") this weekend, but anyone who expected him to go wildly cavorting around London's nightclubs is about to be disappointed. Wills is believed to have spent the weekend at a friend's country estate. The private party was attended by about 20 close friends, all of whom were sworn to secrecy regarding the details of what went on, the Telegraph reports. Even so, with Prince Harry and nightclub owner-slash-famous partier Guy Pelly having planned the weekend, it was sure to have been wild, writes Harry Cole for the Daily Beast. Cole rounds up the rumors of what was planned: a pub that can only be accessed by boat, lots of "booze and legendary activities." Need more royal wedding gossip? Click for news of the couple's cakes.