Prince Harry is the commonly used name for Prince Henry, third in line to the British Royal throne, who was born on 15 September 1984. He was the second and last child born to Prince Charles and Princess Diana, before their marriage broke down and ended in divorce when Prince Harry was 12. Tragedy again struck Prince Harry when his mother was killed in a car crash in France in 1997. He was just 12 years old. That subjected the brothers to intense media pressure from which Princess Diana had sought to shield them, keen that her sons, second and third in line to the throne, should have as normal an upbringing as possible.
Before the splitting up of his parents’ marriage, Prince Harry’s upbringing was typical of the modern royals. Not for him a Royal governess but instead he attended the same nursery school as his elder brother, Prince William, before going on to board at Ludgrove School, Berkshire and Eton College, as William had done. He joined the school’s cadet force, keen to follow the military footsteps of many of the British Royal Family. Here he proved himself to be an able sportsman, especially interested in rugby, polo and abseiling.
Prince Harry gained ‘A’ level qualifications in Art and History, but he opted not to go to university as Prince William and most of his father’s generation of the British Royal Family had done. Before taking up his studies at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, he spent a gap year between a cattle station in Australia and an Orphanage in Lesotho, Africa.
Following his gap year, Prince Harry first attended Sandhurst as an officer cadet n 2005. He successfully became a commissioned office, passing out in 2006, whereupon he joined the Blues and Royals, a Household Cavalry regiment as a Lieutenant. His further training prepared him to be a troop commander in tank reconnaissance.
That job should have taken Prince Harry to serve in the Iraq war in 2007, a role he was said to be relishing. However, information received by British intelligence forces suggested that Prince Harry would be a particularly valued target, and that would expose his comrades in his regiment to an unacceptably high risk. His posting was therefore rescinded: something which Prince Harry appeared in TV interviews appeared to believe was regrettable but understandable.
In the following year, 2008, Prince Harry’s military aspirations took a further blow. He has been training with fellow British and Canadian soldiers in Canada, in readiness to fight in the conflict in Afghanistan. Prince Harry had successfully completed three months’ training in secret before the press leaked this information and it was again seen as too big a threat to other soldiers to have Prince Harry serving on the battle front. He was again forced to return to home duties as a Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals.
In 2009, Prince Harry began training to become a helicopter pilot with the Army.
Prince Harry’s social life, like his brother’s, continues to be of interest to the world’s media, especially regarding his on-off relationship with girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.
- Full Name: Henry Charles Albert David
- Title: Prince Henry of Wales
- Born: 15th September, 1984 in Paddington, London
- Father: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
- Mother: Diana, Princess of Wales
- Born: September 15, 1984 at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London
- Married: No
