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 thrones of the United Kingdom and the other fifteen
Commonwealth Realms, behind his father, and his older brother, Prince William. A grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry holds the rank of Second Lieutenant (known in the regiment as Cornet) 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.
Harry's full title is His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, although he is commonly referred to as Prince
Harry. Like his brother William, Harry uses "Wales" in place of a surname when required.
Early life
Prince Harry was born on 15 September 1984, at
St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in
central London, England, and was christened on
21 December of the same year 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 Chatto, Lady Vestey, Mrs. William Bartholomew; the portrait
painter, Mr. Bryan Organ; and Mr. Gerald Ward.
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. At school, he developed his love of sport,
particularly polo and rugby. 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.[2]
Royal duties
As a serving soldier, Prince Harry currently has no official Royal Engagements.
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 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.
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:
source: http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/prince_harry_to_become_patron_of_three_charities_890227076.html
Army
Officer Cadet Wales (standing to attention next to the horse) on parade at Sandhurst, 21 June 2005.
Prince Harry passed out as a newly commissioned officer at the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in April, 2006. Currently ranked as a Lieutenant, he uses Wales as his surname, and is known in the army as Troop Commander Wales.[3] The following month Prince Harry joined the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the Household Cavalry in the
British Army,[4]
followed by training as a tank reconnaissance troop commander. That year 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,[5] to serve as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the
3rd (UK) Mechanised Division, although this decision was later rescinded. The last member of the 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 thrones of the Commonwealth
Realms, although this changed to third on the 21 June, 1982, the birthday of Prince William 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.[6]
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.[5] 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.[7]
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."[8] On 16 May, 2007, Dannatt, contrary to his previous remarks, announced "I have decided today that Prince Harry will not be
deployed to Iraq." [9] 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."[10]
By early June, it was being reported that Prince Henry, 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, Alberta, for a tour of duty in
Afghanistan.[11][12]
Personal life
Girlfriends
The media continue 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 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.[13]
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 from Highgrove, to study for a postgraduate degree in politics. Harry and Chelsy were both seen together publicly at the Concert
for Diana.
While training at Canadian Forces Base Suffield (noted above), Harry appeared with two plainclothed Royal Canadian Mounted Police escorts at a popular Calgary nightclub, and was reportly seen flirting with one of the
female bartenders, Cherie Cymbalisty. When asked if he was the prince, Harry showed her his military ID. Harry remained behind
after closing and when leaving gave Cymbalisty a kiss on the cheek. Harry, who is said to be still dating Chelsy Davy, acted like
"Prince Charming" according to Cymbalisty's original interview.[14] However, Cymbalisty later claimed in an interview with the tabloid
News of the World, for which she was paid over $30,000 CAD,[15] "the only thing on his
mind was whether or not I was wearing underwear."[16]
Costume controversy
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
swastika armband, causing controversy[17] and considerable embarrassment to his family. He later issued a public statement apologizing for
his actions but his lack of apology in person angered some groups.[18]
Paternity
Harry's mother admitted in an interview with BBC's Panorama that she had committed adultery with James
Hewitt[19]. There has long been rumours,
especially in the foreign press[20] [21], that Prince Harry is actually Hewitt's son. However, this has been
persistently denied by Hewitt[22], though St James's
Palace has always declined to comment. Most sources state that Diana did not even meet Hewitt until 1986, when Harry was already
two years old.[23]. His red hair is most likely a trait
of his mother's Spencer family genes (he bears a resemblance to his uncle, the Earl Spencer).
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles
Styles
Prince Harry is currently third-in-line for succession to the Thrones (behind his father and elder brother). Should he
eventually succeed to the throne and keep his first Christian name, he would probably 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.
Honours
Honorary military appointments
Arms
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: 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.
Ancestry
See also
References
- ^ As a titled royal, Harry holds no surname, but, when one is
used, it is Mountbatten-Windsor (or his father's territorial designation,
Wales)
- ^ Harry begins Sandhurst training, BBC News, May 8, 2005
- ^ Prince
Harry off to Iraq, USA Today; Feb 22, 2007
- ^ Harry joins the Blues and Royals, BBC News; May 8, 2006
- ^ a b
- ^ Harry Iraq deployment no surprise, BBC News; 22 February,
2007
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6594223.stm
- ^ "A ‘Wild West’ in the east where militias learn their deadly trade", The Times,
26 April 2007
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/16/iraq.harry/index.html Prince Harry will not
got to Iraq, CNN 16 May 2007.
- ^ Prince Harry deployment update, 16th May 2007
- ^ Canadian Press; CTV News: Prince Harry may be training in Alberta: reports; June 2, 2007
- ^ Kennedy, Sarah; Fernandez, Pablo; Gilchrist, Emma; Sun Media: Prince Harry training in
Alberta; June 2, 2007
- ^ Harry at 21 on Camilla, the media and Aids children in Africa, Stephen Bates,
The Guardian, September 15, 2005
- ^ CBC News: Prince
Harry takes 'quite a shine' to Calgary bartender; June 8, 2007
- ^ CTV News; June 11, 2007]
- ^ White, Tarina; Calgary Sun: Calgarian exposes Dirty Harry; June 10, 2007
- ^ Harry says sorry for Nazi costume BBC News, January 13, 2005
- ^ Harry public apology 'not needed' BBC News, January 14, 2005
- ^ 1995: Diana admits adultery in TV interview, BBC, November 20th 1995
- ^ Separated At Birth: James Hewitt and Prince Harry Bongo News, April 13, 2005
- ^ Prince Harry: Who's My Daddy?!, TMZ.com, June 14, 2007
- ^ Hewitt denies Prince Harry link BBC News, September 21, 2002
- ^ [1] Sydney Morning Herald: September 23, 2003
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