Can dirty Harry clean up his image?

It's been eight months since the infamous strip billiards incident when the world (almost) got to see Prince Harry's crown jewels as he partied in the nude with a bevy of Las Vegas beauties in his VIP suite at the Wynn.

Today marks the playboy prince's first visit to the States since the scandal — this time, he's staying for a week of official engagements, including a trip to the storm-ravaged Jersey Shore. According to some observers, it's all part of an effort to rehabilitate the image of the royal who's third in line to the throne and a first-class troublemaker.

HARRY TO THE RESCUE: Army man Prince Harry is hoping to clean up his party boy image with an official tour to the US, which will see him visiting Sandy-ravaged New Jersey on Tuesday.

Photos: Dirty Harry: Playboy Prince or Proper Prince?

"He has quite an agenda ahead to clean up his act," says Leslie Singer, branding expert for the Manhattan-based consultants Singer Salt, who has been following Harry's fortunes on both sides of the pond.

The US is "the global thermometer of what's in and what's out, and then everybody seems to follow suit. If the Americans love him and can forgive him, then hopefully everyone else will, too."

Harry's Vegas hangover is only the latest in a string of devilish misdeeds including but not limited to: smoking weed in 2002, wearing a Nazi armband at a party in 2005, and swallowing a live goldfish at a wedding reception in 1999. Earlier this year, he controversially compared his time serving as an attack gunner in Afghanistan to playing a video game, calling it "a joy for me because I'm one of those people that loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think I'm probably quite useful."

While many of the royal family members find Prince Harry amusing (pictures of him joking with his sister-in-law, Duchess Kate, speak to his charms), the 28-year-old has also shone an unwelcome spotlight on the decadent, out-of-touch reputation of the aristocracy. This trip is meant to remind the public that he's his mother's son: empathetic, personable and charitable. And so, in the words of one royal aide who spoke to The Post anonymously, he'll be "kept on the leash."

Practically every day of Harry's Rehab Tour is planned to the last second with sobering excursions to Arlington Cemetery, the Warrior Games for wounded soldiers in Colorado Springs, and underprivileged areas here in New York City. On Tuesday, he will visit sections of the Jersey Shore hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy with Gov. Chris Christie, and check out the rebuilding efforts in Mantoloking and Seaside Heights. (Only Monday is unaccounted for on Harry's schedule, allowing for travel and R&R instead of hanky panky.)

According to his friends, Harry has a wish list of New York destinations that he won't be able to check off this visit. They include clubs Lavo, Kiss and Fly, and The Box (he's a discreet regular at The Box in London).