Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

Prince Harry
Prince Henry of Wales
Names Henry Charles Albert David
House	House of Windsor
Father	Charles, Prince of Wales
Mother	Diana, Princess of Wales
Occupation	Cornet, Blues and Royals

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, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. He is third in the line of succession to the British Throne and the thrones of the other Commonwealth Realms, behind his father, and his older brother, Prince William of Wales. A grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry holds the rank of Cornet (equivalent to Second Lieutenant) in the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry of the British Army. He is a tank commander, trained to lead a 12-man team in four armoured reconnaissance vehicles.

Early life

Prince Harry was born on 15 September 1984 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in central London, England. His father is Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His mother is the late Diana, Princess of Wales, who died on 31 August 1997. Diana admitted in an interview with BBC's Panorama that she had committed adultery with James Hewitt. It has been suggested that Hewitt could be the natural father of the Prince, although this has been denied. Harry has a brother, Prince William, two years his senior. Harry's full title is His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, although he is seldom referred to as anything but Prince Harry.

He was christened on 21 December 1984 at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie. His godparents were: his uncle the Duke of York, Lady Sarah Chatto, Lady Vestey, Mrs. William Bartholomew; the portrait painter, Mr. Bryan Organ; and Mr. Gerald Ward.

The prince's official family name is Windsor, according to his grandmother's royal proclamation of 1960, but some of the descendants of Queen Elizabeth II appear to use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor as personal preference.

Prince Henry (Harry) is not Prince of Wales - only Prince Charles possesses that title. Cf the official website http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5659.asp

Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

On 31 August 1997, Harry's mother was killed in a car accident in Paris, with her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed. Her death came only a few weeks after she spent a holiday in southern France with William and Harry. The princes were staying at Balmoral Castle; it was Charles who woke them and broke the news.

At Diana's funeral, their father, grandfather Prince Philip, and uncle (the Earl Spencer) walked behind Diana's funeral cortege from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. On Diana's coffin was a card from Harry, made out to Mummy. Cameras were banned from showing close-up images of the princes during the service itself. Both princes have been praised for their enormous show of strength on that day.

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; in Geography he received a D, and in Art a B. At school, he developed his love of sport, particularly polo and rugby. The Prince has shown a keen interest in modeling and 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 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.

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.

Royal duties

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

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. Sentebale is a Sesotho word meaning forget-me-not. The name is meant to honour both princes' mothers: the former 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.

In 2006, Prince Harry was appointed as one of nine new Commodores-in-Chief of the Royal Navy, alongside other members of his family. Prince Harry was appointed as Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving. In February, 2007, it was announced that Prince Harry would join his regiment, The Blues and Royals, on a six month tour of Iraq — an active combat zone. May 16, 2007, it was announced that Prince Harry will not serve in Iraq due to security concerns and threats on his life.

Army

Prince Harry passed out as a newly commissioned officer at the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in April 2006. He uses Wales as his surname and is currently known in the army as Troop Commander Wales. His current rank is Lieutenant.

In May 2006 Prince Harry joined the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the Household Cavalry in the British Army. He then trained as a tank reconnaissance troop commander.

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, to serve as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division.

The last member of the British Royal Family to serve 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 British Throne, although this changed to third on the 21 June 1982, the day after the British Government declared hostilities to be over, with the birth of Prince William. According to a BBC news article Harry Iraq deployment no surprise 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. He was scheduled to leave for Iraq in May or June of 2007. The regiment will be 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."

The head of the British army, General Richard Dannatt, first said on 30 April 2007 that he had personally decided that the Prince will serve with his unit in Iraq. 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.

On 16 May 2007, Dannatt, contrary to his previous remarks, announced "I have decided today that Prince Harry will not be deployed to Iraq." A release from Buckingham Palace is expected.

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."

Personal life

Girlfriends

The media continues to speculate about any and all of Prince Harry's possible girlfriends. The Prince's best known romance has been with Chelsy Davy, a Zimbabwe-born 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.

In July 2006, photos were published of the two kissing at the Cartier Polo International Tournament.

In October 2006, it was reported that Davy had accepted an offer from the University of Bristol, which is 27 miles from Highgrove, to study for a postgraduate degree in politics.

Costume controversy

File:Thesunharry.jpg

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

At a party with the fancy dress theme "Colonial and Native", Prince Harry wore a German Afrika Korps uniform, much to the outrage of those who understand the second world war and the holocaust. It was a considerable embarrassment to his family. He issued a public statement apologising for his actions. His not apologising in person angered some groups.

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

• 15 September 1984-: His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales

Arms

On his 18th birthday, his grandmother, Queen 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: Quarterly, 1st and 4th Gules three Lions passant guardant in pale Or (England), 2nd Or a Lion rampant within a Double Tressure flory counterflory Gules (Scotland), 3rd Azure a Harp Or stringed Argent (Ireland), the whole differenced by a Label of five points Argent the first third and fifth points charged with an Escallop Gules. Prince Harry's coat of arms has a label of five points, as the grandchild of the sovereign. The escallops (seashells) allude to his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, whose Spencer coat of arms includes three escallops argent.

Styles

Prince Harry is currently third in line for succession to the British throne (behind his father and elder brother). Should he eventually succeed to the throne and keep his first Christian name, he would likely be known as Henry IX. Henry Benedict Stuart is sometimes known by this title by supporters of the Jacobites, but he never attempted to seize the throne and is not listed in the official chronology of the rulers of England. There is ample precedent for using the prince to use any of his given names as a regal name; four of the past six monarchs chose to change their name upon ascension to the throne, but, in Harry's case, King Charles would be a poor choice, as that name was actively claimed by Bonnie Prince Charlie, and the first of that name was beheaded. He holds the name David also a name used for previous Scots Kings (so Harry would be David III) yet his other given name of Albert has never been used.

Ancestry

Prince Harry's ancestors in three generations

Prince Henry of Wales	Father: Charles, Prince of Wales	Paternal Grandfather: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh	Paternal Great-grandfather: Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Princess Alice of Battenberg
		Paternal Grandmother: Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom	Paternal Great-grandfather: George VI of the United Kingdom
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
	Mother: Diana, Princess of Wales	Maternal Grandfather: John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer	Maternal Great-grandfather: Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer
		Maternal Grandmother: Frances Shand Kydd	Maternal Great-grandfather: Maurice Burke Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Ruth Burke Roche, Baroness Fermoy

See also

• British prince
• British Royal Family
• Line of succession to the British Throne
• Genealogy of the British Royal Family
• Characters in the Axis of Time Trilogy

External links

• Royal.gov.uk - Prince Harry

• Personal Profile - Prince Harry - From Prince of Wales official Site
• Monarchy Wales - leading campaign organisation
• Illustrated biography of Prince Harry
• Prince Harry Not Going to Iraq on Time.com (a division of Time Magazine)
• The Sun's Prince Harry & Natalie Pinkham Picture 15th August 2006
• Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex at IMDb