Emboldened by alcohol on the other side of the world, the love-struck prince declares his true feelings.

Having received the kind of wild welcome usually reserved for a rock star, Prince Harry looked to be having the time of his life as he danced with local beauties, mingled with celebrities and sampled delicious tropical rum cocktails on his Diamond Jubilee tour of the Caribbean and Brazil.

But a close friend of the fun-loving royal reveals the prince’s mind was on the other side of the world, with Harry firing off flirty text messages to Pippa Middleton, his brother Prince William’s sister-in-law, throughout the trip. “Harry has been turning on the charm big time,” says the friend, who has known the prince since they were children. “He likes her a lot and is ready for romance now he’s finished his helicopter training.”

Harry, 27, is apparently desperate to take his friendship with Pippa, 28, to the next level, and it was while partying in Belize that the prince took action in his bid to woo her. “After he had a couple of drinks, Harry decided to send a text message to Pippa with a link to pictures of himself showing off his dance moves,” the friend tells Woman’s Day. “He also attached a note that read: ‘See what you’re missing? Xoxo’.”

“Pippa thought the message was hysterical,” says Harry’s friend, a London socialite who also mixes with the Middleton sisters. “She texted Harry back straight away, saying, ‘You crack me up!’” Despite the time difference – Pippa was in Sweden to compete in a 90km cross-country ski race – the pair continued to exchangeaffectionate texts throughout the night.

Read more about Harry and Pippa's flirty texts plus see all the pictures from Harry's Caribbean and Brazil tour in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday March 12, 2012.