Prince Harry urged to issue an apology over his cocaine use ahead of Colombia trip with Meghan Markle

However, a source close to Harry's older brother has called on him to apologise following his admission in his memoir Spare that he had taken cocaine when he was 17.

The Duke wrote in his memoir that cocaine "didn’t do anything for me" when he took "a line" at the age 17. He added that "Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me."

A friend of Prince William told the Daily Beast: “Harry admitted to doing coke in his book.

"His trip to Colombia should include an admission that the country has been destroyed by narco-terrorists servicing wealthy drug users in the west, and he should stand up and apologize for his own participation in that disgusting trade. That would be a helpful intervention."

In 2022, crops of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine, hit a record 2,300 square kilometers (568,342 acres) according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Coca production is taking place in new areas and fresh trafficking routes are opening up, according to Columbian officials.

A recent campaign in Sweden on the issue claimed that four square meters of rainforest is destroyed for every gram of cocaine produced.

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There has been concern from royalists close to Prince William and Princess Kate about the Sussex's trip to South America.

One source told the Daily Beast: "I’m afraid it shows the utter contempt they have for the king and for very long-established ways of doing things. Royal tours have always, always been about diplomacy, building bridges and reinforcing friendships on behalf of Britain.

"This tour may well have the noblest intentions, but it is clearly not being carried out on behalf of Britain, and yet they still basically portray themselves as British royals.

"It shows you exactly why the royals want these two kept as far away as possible."

Security concerns have been raised regarding the Sussexes' overseas tour but an insider told the Mail the couple will have a lot of security with them as they will be with the vice president

They said: "They will be with the vice president and she has a lot of security because there have been assassination attempts on her life.

"But people are grumbling about why the Colombian taxpayer should pick up what will be huge security costs for what is essentially a public relations exercise for the Sussexes and for a government which desperately needs to deflect away from its failures."