Harry plays jester while the Middleton sisters dazzle

Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge. Photo: Getty Images

PRINCE Harry reportedly lived up to his reputation as the jester of the royal family, giving an irreverent best man's speech that poked fun at his newly married older brother, as well as several other members of the royal family.
A select group of 300 guests invited to a wedding dinner hosted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace heard Harry pay tribute to Prince William and his new bride Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, before he reeled off a series of jokes at his brother's expense.
Harry, notorious for his oddball sense of humour, even targetted his 90-year-old grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, joking that Kate had dwarfed him in her three-inch heels.

The new Duchess of Cambridge leaves Clarence House accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall en route to the evening party at Buckingham Palace. Photo: AFP/WPA POOL

Not to be outdone, Prince William and his father also made jokes about each other in their speeches.
While there was plenty of deeply felt emotion, with Prince William declaring that he was ''in love'' with his wife, the male Windsors felt free to show their fun sides in the absence of the Queen, who chose not to attend the afterparty.
Her decision to retire early was seen as tacit permission for the evening celebration to be more of an informal event.

Princess Beatrice attending the after party. Photo: Getty Images

Harry was recently quoted in the British press saying he'd have to tone down his best man's speech if his grandmother was present.
The speeches of the Prince of Wales and Prince William highlighted their close father-son bond and love of ribbing each other.
Prince Charles drew attention to his son's baldness and, in return, Prince William highlighted his father's expanding waistline.
Prince Charles said he hoped his son would look after him in old age, before joking that William would probably ''push my wheelchair off a cliff''.
Whether or not that was an indication of his son's eagerness to assume the throne was unclear.
Prince Charles hired chef Anton Mossiman to cater, with guests enjoying crab to start, followed by lamb.

Prince Harry was said to have insisted that bacon and sausage sandwiches were available later in the night. An ice cream van was also said to have been hired to provide an alternative dessert.
The partying continued in the Grand Ballroom, the biggest of the palace's 775 rooms, measuring just over 36 metres by 18 metres, until well after midnight.
Adding to the frivolity, a giant disco ball was said to have been hung in the ballroom at the suggestion of the bride's sister, party-planner Pippa Middleton, much to the chagrin of more traditional courtiers.
The 29-year-old bride, wearing her second dress of the day by the designer Sarah Burton of fashion house Alexander McQueen, looked gorgeous in the strapless white satin gazar gown with its circle skirt featuring diamanté´ embroidered detail around the waist.
But she was upstaged by her glamorous younger sister who wore a long emerald green sleeveless dress with a jewelled embellishment and a plunging neckline.
The end of the party was announced with about 20 seconds of fireworks, greeted by loud cheers and shouts from inside the palace walls.
The newlyweds then retired to one of the suites in the palace to spend their first night as a married couple.
Their guests filtered out slowly through the side gates of Buckingham Palace between 11pm and 3am. Most of the departing guests got into cars and taxis that picked them up from inside the palace walls. Some couples were seen kissing on the back seat as they left. Others shielded their faces.
Harry, true to form, and presumably after having eaten several bacon and sausage sandwiches, was among the last to leave, taking his seat in a minibus about 3am, minus his bow tie. He was accompanied by a dozen fellow party-goers thought to have included Kate Middleton's brother James.
Harry's onetime girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, was seen leaving in a car with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
A small group who left on foot, walking down Buckingham Palace Road to Victoria Station, said they'd had a ''great evening''.
The singer Ellie Goulding, best known for her version of Elton John's Your Song, was among those who performed at the event. Joss Stone, the singer from Devon, was also among the guests.