Prince Henry
Prince Henry of Wales
Full name
Henry Charles Albert David [1]
Detail Titles and styles
HRH Prince Henry of Wales
Royal house	House of Windsor
Father	Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
Mother	Diana, Princess of Wales
Born	15 September 1984 (1984-09-15) (age 24) St Mary's Hospital, London
Baptised	21 December 1984 St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Occupation	Lieutenant, Blues and Royals

British Royal Family
HM The Queen HRH The Duke of Edinburgh HRH The Prince of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall HRH Prince William of Wales HRH Prince Henry of Wales HRH The Duke of York HRH Princess Beatrice of York HRH Princess Eugenie of York HRH The Earl of Wessex HRH The Countess of Wessex Viscount Severn Lady Louise Windsor HRH The Princess Royal HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Duchess of Gloucester HRH The Duke of Kent HRH The Duchess of Kent HRH Prince Michael of Kent HRH Princess Michael of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra
v â€¢ d â€¢ e

For actual Princes of Wales called Henry see Henry, Prince of Wales.

Prince Henry of Wales (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984), commonly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and his first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales (née Diana Spencer).^[2] A grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, he is third in the line of succession to the thrones of the United Kingdom and the other fifteen Commonwealth realms, behind his father and his older brother, Prince William.

He holds the rank of Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry of the British Army. Harry was a tank commander, trained to lead a 12-man team in four armoured reconnaissance vehicles. After the decision not to send him to Iraq, he retrained as a forward air controller, the job he performed in Afghanistan. He was serving on the front line in Afghanistan^[3] although he was pulled out on 29 February 2008 after the world media revealed his presence there and the British authorities became concerned for his safety and the safety of those around him. He had served in Afghanistan between 14 December 2007 and 29 February 2008, for a total of 77 days.^[4]

His full title is His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, although he is commonly referred to as Prince Harry. As a prince, he does not have a surname. Like his brother William, however, Harry often uses "Wales" in place of a surname when required.

Early life

Family

Prince Henry was born on 15 September 1984 as Henry Charles Albert David at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in central London, England, and was christened on 21 December at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie. His godparents were his uncle, The Duke of York; Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones; Lady Vestey; Mrs. William Bartholomew; the portrait painter, Mr. Bryan Organ; and Mr. Gerald Ward.

There are persistent rumours that Harry's biological father is Major James Hewitt, with whom his mother publicly admitted conducting an extramarital affair in her 1995 Panorama interview. Diana and Hewitt have both stated they did not meet until after Harry's birth.^[5]

Education

Harry attended Mrs. Jane Mynors's nursery school in West London, as did William. He later followed his brother to the Wetherby School, and later to Ludgrove School in Berkshire. He then attended Eton College located in Berkshire in 1998. In June 2003, he completed his education at Eton with two A-levels obtaining a B in Art and a D in Geography. At school, he developed his love of sport, particularly polo and rugby union. The Prince has shown a keen interest in abseiling. He has also participated in the Eton Wall Game.

After finishing Eton, Harry undertook a gap year, visiting Australia and Africa. In Australia, he, like his father before him, worked on a cattle station, and watched the 2003 Rugby World Cup being held in the country. In Africa, he worked in an orphanage in Lesotho. Later in the year, he travelled to Argentina on holiday.

Further information: Royal visits to Australia

On 8 May 2005, the Prince entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. There, he was known as Officer Cadet Wales instead of using his royal title, and was part of Alamein Company.^[6]

Royal duties

As a serving soldier, Prince Harry currently has no official Royal Engagements. However, at the age of 23, and as third in line to the throne, he became eligible to serve as a Counsellor of State (first filling this role in 2005 when the Queen was on a state visit to Malta).

In April 2006, Prince Harry launched a charity with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to aid children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The charity is named Sentebale: The Princes' Fund for Lesotho; the name, Sentebale being a Sesotho word meaning forget-me-not, is meant to honour both princes' mothers: the Princess of Wales, who died in 1997; and Queen 'MaMohato of Lesotho, who died in 2003. Prince Harry was in Lesotho to launch the charity and to make a return visit to Mants'ase Children's Home near Mohale's Hoek, which he visited in 2004 during his gap year.

Along with his elder brother, Harry spearheaded the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, on 1 July 2007. Attended by 63,000 people, and broadcast in 140 countries, the concert raised funds for charities such as the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, Centrepoint and Harry's own Sentebale.

Patronages, presidencies and chancellorships

As with any member of the Royal Family, Prince Harry is expected to take up honorary positions as patron, president or chancellor of charitable or academic institutions throughout the Commonwealth Realms. Prince Harry is currently patron of:

• WellChild
• Sentebale
• Dolen Cymru
• MapAction^[7]

Army

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Officer Cadet Wales (standing to attention next to the horse) on parade at Sandhurst, 21 June 2005.

Upon leaving the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in April 2006, Prince Harry was commissioned into the The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), a regiment of the Household Cavalry in the British Army, as a Second Lieutenant (known in the regiment as "Cornet")^[1]. Upon reaching two years' seniority in April 2008, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

In 2006, Prince Harry was also appointed as one of nine new Commodores-in-Chief of the Royal Navy, alongside other members of his family, being appointed as Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving.

On 22 February 2007, the Ministry of Defence and Clarence House made a joint statement that Prince Harry would be deployed with his regiment in Iraq,^[8] to serve as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division, although this decision was later rescinded. Prior to this, the last member of the Royal Family to have served in a war zone was Prince Harry's uncle, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who flew helicopters during the Falklands War in 1982. At the time, Prince Andrew was second in line to the thrones of the Commonwealth Realms, although this changed to third on 21 June 1982, the day of Prince William's birth and the day after the British Government declared hostilities to be over. According to a BBC news article, Prince Harry had made it clear that he would leave the army if he was left in safety while his regiment was sent to a war zone.^[9]

The head of the British army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, first said on 30 April 2007 that he had personally decided that the Prince will serve with his unit in Iraq.^[8] The Ministry of Defence had been considering whether the Prince should be exposed to a combat situation; concerns included the Prince being a high-value target, as several threats by various groups have already been made against him, and the dangers the soldiers around him would face should any attempt be made on his life or capture. However, families of serving soldiers have expressed concern over any decision which would exempt Prince Harry from active service in Iraq. The Prince has been quoted as saying "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country." Although friends of the Prince have indicated that he would be "disappointed" if he were not allowed to go, they are also quoted as saying he would not resign from the army in protest.^[10]

Prince Harry was scheduled to leave for Iraq in May or June 2007, with the regiment becoming responsible for patrolling the Maysan province, trying to stop Iranian smugglers bringing hi-tech weapons across the border of desert and marshes. The province, known to Coalition forces as Iraq’s "Wild West", has been described as "a dangerous wilderness that is being used by Iraq's Shia extremist groups as a testing ground for their latest explosive devices."^[11] On 16 May 2007, Dannatt, contrary to his previous remarks, announced "I have decided today that Prince Harry will not be deployed to Iraq."^[12] Clarence House subsequently issued a statement that "Prince Harry is very disappointed that he will not be able to go to Iraq with his troop on this deployment, as he had hoped. He fully understands and accepts General Dannatt’s difficult decision, and remains committed to his Army career. Prince Harry’s thoughts are with his troop and the rest of the Battle Group in Iraq."^[13]

In May 2007 British soldiers in Iraq were reported to be wearing t-shirts bearing the statement "I'm Harry!": a reference to the scene in the movie Spartacus in which the survivors of Spartacus's army, defeated by Roman legions, are offered leniency by Crassus if they will identify their leader. Every survivor declares: "I'm Spartacus!"^[14]

By early June, it was being reported that Prince Harry, third in line to the Canadian Throne, had arrived in Canada to train, along with other soldiers of the Canadian and British Armies, at CFB Suffield, near Medicine Hat, for a tour of duty in Afghanistan.^[15][16]

On 28 February 2008 the Ministry of Defence stated that Prince Harry had secretly been deployed to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, in Helmand Province as a Forward Air Controller.^[17] The Ministry of Defence had a deal with the media of the United Kingdom to keep his whereabouts secret. The German newspaper Bild^[18] and the Australian magazine New Idea^[19][20] were the first to report rumours on 7 January 2008, followed by a story on the American website the Drudge Report on 28 February leading to the confirmation by the British Ministry of Defence.^[21]

According to reports, the Prince's combat tour in Afghanistan began on 14 December 2007. Reports have also revealed that by 29 February 2008 the prince had called in at least three U.S Air Force F-15E air strikes.^[22] Other details of Prince Harry's combat experience have revealed that he had fired a machine gun at insurgent positions during a battle. In that battle, he helped Gurkha troops repel an attack of sixteen to twenty Taliban insurgents.^[23] He has also performed patrol duty in hostile areas.^[24] On 29 February 2008 Prince Harry was withdrawn from Afghanistan, following the outbreak of news that could potentially jeopardise his safety and the safety of his fellow sub-ordinates, he returned to RAF Brize Norton with 169 other soldiers also returning. His tour came 735 years after his ancestor, Edward Prince of Wales, had also been on military duty in the middle East during the Ninth crusade.^[25] He was welcomed back to Britain by his brother and his father, who said he was "incredibly proud" of his son. The Queen's senior courtiers also exclaimed that she viewed that "[Harry] had performed a good job in a very difficult climate."^[26]

Personal life

Relationships

The Front Cover of tabloid The Sun featuring a picture of the costume.

The Prince's girlfriend has been Chelsy Davy, a Zimbabwe-born white African heiress to an African ranching and real estate fortune. In an interview conducted for his 21st birthday in September 2005, Prince Harry referred to Davy as his girlfriend and the press reported that their relationship was at that time 18 months old, strongly contradicting reports they were no longer a couple.^[27] In July 2006, photos were published of the two kissing at the Cartier Polo International Tournament, and by October that year it was reported that Davy had accepted an offer from the University of Bristol, which is 27 miles (43 km) from Highgrove, to study for a postgraduate degree in politics. Harry and Chelsy Davy were both seen together publicly at the Concert for Diana. Chelsy is currently attending the University of Leeds and living in the UK.

Costume controversy

At a party with the fancy dress theme "Colonial and Native", Prince Harry wore a Nazi Party swastika armband, causing controversy^[28] and considerable embarrassment to his family. He later issued a public statement apologising for his actions.^[29]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Styles of HRH Prince Henry of Wales
Reference style	His Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Sir

Titles and styles

• His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, 15 September 1984 – present.

Prince Harry is currently third-in-line for succession to the Throne (behind his father and elder brother). Should his father succeed to the throne he will be known simply as His Royal Highness The Prince Henry.

Surname usage

Under an Order-in-Council in 1960, the non-titled descendants of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were given the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, combining the dynasty name of Elizabeth and the assumed surname of Philip. However, although titled, the Queen's children have all decided to use the surname also in honour of their father. For their banns for their first marriages, both Harry's aunt, Anne, Princess Royal and his own father, Charles, Prince of Wales, used Mountbatten-Windsor rather than Windsor. Mountbatten-Windsor is now treated as being the surname of all descendants of the Queen and the Duke except those, like the children of the Princess Royal, who have a new paternal surname (in that case, "Phillips").

In the British Monarchy's website, it is stated that "members of the Royal Family who are entitled to the style and dignity of HRH Prince or Princess do not need a surname, but if at any time any of them do need a surname, that surname is Mountbatten-Windsor."^[30]

As with Royal Family tradition, both Prince William and Prince Harry used "Wales" as a last name during their years of education. Harry's York cousins in turn use "York" (other royal families also use their parents' title as their own working surname). Past precedent, however, is that such title-surnames are dropped from usage in adulthood, with either title alone or name and Mountbatten-Windsor being used on legal documents and banns of marriage.

Military rank

• Second Lieutenant (Cornet), The Blues and Royals, 13 April 2006^[31]
• Lieutenant, The Blues and Royals, 13 April 2008 ^[32]

Honorary military appointments

• 2006–present: Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving
• 2008-present: Honorary Air Commodore, RAF Wittering
• 2008-present: Honorary Air Commandant, RAF Honington^[33]

Honours and military decorations

• Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan
• Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002

Arms

Arms of Prince Henry of Wales Notes On his 18th birthday, his grandmother, Elizabeth II, granted Prince Harry his own personalised coat of arms, the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom with a label for difference. Escutcheon Quarterly, 1st and 3rd Gules three Lions passant guardant in pale Or (England), 2nd Or a Lion rampant within a Double Tressure flory counterflory Gules (Scotland), 4th Azure a Harp Or stringed Argent (Ireland) Other elements the whole differenced by a Label of five points Argent the first third and fifth points charged with an Escallop Gules Symbolism As the grandchild of the sovereign, Prince Harry's coat of arms has a label of five points. The escallops (seashells) allude to his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, whose Spencer coat of arms includes three escallops argent

Ancestry

See also

• British prince
• British Royal Family
• Canadian Royal Family
• Line of succession to the British Throne
• Genealogy of the British Royal Family

References