Prince Harry 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. His paternal grandparents are Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He stands fourth in line to succeed his grandmother as monarch of the Commonwealth realms, preceded by his father, his elder brother Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his nephew Prince George of Cambridge.

After an education at schools in the United Kingdom and spending parts of his gap year in Australia and Lesotho, Harry chose a military career, undergoing officer training at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry Regiment—serving temporarily with his brother—and completed his training as a tank commander. In 2007–2008 he served for 77 days on the front line in the Afghan War, although he was pulled out following publication of the story in an Australian magazine. He returned to Afghanistan for a 20-week deployment in 2012–2013.

Early life
Harry was born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, England, on 15 September 1984. He was baptised on 21 December 1984 at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. Harry's godparents were Prince Andrew, Duke of York (his paternal uncle); Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (his paternal cousin once removed); Lady Vestey; Mrs. William Bartholomew; Bryan Organ; and Gerald Ward, a former officer in the Household Cavalry.

Diana wanted Harry and his older brother William to have a broader range of experiences than previous royal children and took both to venues that ranged from Disney World and McDonald's to AIDS clinics and shelters for the homeless. Prince Harry began to accompany his parents on official visits at an early age; his first overseas royal tour was with his parents to Italy in 1985. The Princess of Wales' earlier decision to take an infant William to Australia set the precedent for young royal children going on official visits.

Harry's parents divorced in 1996, and his mother died following a car accident in Paris the following year. Harry and William were staying with their father at Balmoral Castle at the time, and the Prince of Wales told his sons about their mother's death after reports of it were confirmed. At his mother's funeral, Harry, then twelve years old, accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather, and maternal uncle in walking behind the funeral cortège from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.

Education
Like his father and brother, Harry was educated at independent schools. He started at Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School, both in London. Following this, he attended Ludgrove School, and, after passing the entrance exams, was admitted to Eton College, where he studied geography, art history, and art at A-Level. The decision to place Harry in Eton went against the family tradition of sending royal children to Gordonstoun (Harry's grandfather, father, two uncles, and two cousins all attended); it did, however, make the Prince follow in the Spencer family footsteps, as both Diana's father and brother had attended Eton. In June 2003, he completed his education at Eton with two A-Levels (achieving a grade B in art and D in Geography) having decided to drop history of art after AS level. He excelled in sports, particularly polo and rugby union.

After school, Harry took a gap year, during which he spent time in Australia, working (as his father had done in his youth) on a cattle station and participating in the Young England vs Young Australia Polo Test Match. He also travelled to Lesotho, where he worked with orphaned children and produced the documentary film The Forgotten Kingdom.

Military career


Prince Harry entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 8 May 2005, where he was known as Officer Cadet Wales, and joined the Alamein Company. Within a year, in April 2006, Harry completed his officer's training and was commissioned as a Cornet (second lieutenant) in the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the Household Cavalry in the British Army. He was given the service number 564673. On 13 April 2008, whereupon he reached two years' seniority, Harry was promoted to lieutenant.

The British Ministry of Defence and Clarence House made a joint announcement on 22 February 2007 that Prince Harry would be deployed with his regiment to Iraq, to serve as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd Mechanised Division – a move supported by Harry, who had stated that he would leave the army if he was told to remain in safety while his regiment went to war; he said: "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." The head of the British army at the time, General Sir Richard Dannatt, first said on 30 April 2007 that he had personally decided that the Prince would serve with his unit in Iraq, and Harry was scheduled for deployment in May or June 2007, to patrol the Maysan Province. By 16 May, however, Dannatt announced that Prince Harry would not serve in Iraq; concerns included Harry being a high-value target (as several threats by various groups had already been made against him) and the dangers the soldiers around him would face should any attempt be made on the Prince's life or capture. Clarence House made public the Prince's disappointment with the decision, though he said he would abide by it.

It was reported, in early June 2007, that Prince Harry had arrived in Canada to train, alongside soldiers of the Canadian Forces and British Army, at CFB Suffield, near Medicine Hat, Alberta. It was said that this was in preparation for a tour of duty in Afghanistan, where Canadian and British forces were participating in the NATO-led Afghan War; rumours that were confirmed in February the following year, when the British Ministry of Defence revealed that Harry had secretly been deployed as a Forward Air Controller to Helmand Province in the Asian country. The revelation came after the media – notably, the German newspaper Bild and Australian magazine New Idea  – breached the blackout placed over the information by the Canadian and British authorities. It was later reported that, while in Afghanistan, Harry had helped Gurkha troops repel an attack from Taliban insurgents, and performed patrol duty in hostile areas. His tour made Harry the first member of the Royal Family to have served in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, flew helicopters during the Falklands War. For his service, Prince Harry was presented with an Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan by his aunt Anne, Princess Royal, at the Combermere Barracks in May 2008.

In October 2008, it was announced that Prince Harry was to follow his brother, father, and uncle in learning to fly military helicopters. After passing the initial aptitude test, he was to undertake a month-long course; if he passed that, he would begin full flight training in early 2009. Harry had to pass his flying assessment at the Army Air Corps Base (AAC), Middle Wallop, the result of which determined if he would pass on to train as a pilot of either the Apache, Lynx, or Gazelle helicopter. Having reached the requisite standard, Prince Harry attended the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury, where he joined brother Prince William.



Prince Harry was presented with his flying brevet (wings) by his father, on 7 May 2010, at a ceremony at the Army Air Corps Base (AAC), Middle Wallop. Prince Harry had also let it be known that he intended to fly Apache attack helicopters if he was successful in passing the rigorous Apache training course; after which time it could be possible for him to see active military service once again on the frontline in Afghanistan. During the ceremony, he switched his Blues and Royals' Officer's Service Dress cap for that of the Army Air Corps' sky blue beret with a Blues and Royals badge.

On 10 March 2011, it was revealed that Prince Harry had passed his Apache flying test and he was awarded his Apache Flying Badge on 14 April 2011. There was speculation that he would return to Afghanistan once again, before the withdrawal in 2015. On 16 April 2011, it was announced that Prince Harry had been promoted to the Army rank of captain after having held the rank of lieutenant since 2008.

In June 2011, Clarence House announced that Prince Harry, on completion of his training conversion course to use Apache helicopters in the war arena, would be available for deployment, including in current operations in Afghanistan, in his role as an Apache helicopter pilot. The final decision will ultimately rest with the Ministry of Defence's senior commanders, including principally the Chief of the Defence Staff in consultation with the wishes of Harry, his father the Prince of Wales and the Queen. In October, Prince Harry was transferred to a US military base in California to complete his helicopter gunship training. This final phase will include live-fire training as well as "environmental and judgment training" at naval and air force facilities in California and Arizona. The majority of those completing the two-month Apache training are deployed to the front lines in Afghanistan. In the same month, it was reported that Prince Harry was said to be a natural pilot who was reportedly top of his class in the extensive training he had undertaken at the Naval Air Facility, El Centro, California. On November 2011, Prince Harry returned to England from military training in the United States. Next, he went to Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk, in the east of England, to complete his training to fly Apache helicopters.

On 7 September 2012, Captain Wales, as he is known in the military, arrived at Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan as part of the 100-strong 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment, Army Air Corps, to begin a four-month combat tour as a co-pilot and gunner for an Apache helicopter. On 10 September, within days of arriving in Afghanistan it was reported that the Taliban threatened Captain Wales' life. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid spoke to Reuters and was quoted as saying; "We are using all our strength to get rid of him, either by killing or kidnapping," and "We have informed our commanders in Helmand to do whatever they can to eliminate him."

It was announced on 21 January 2013, that Prince Harry was returning from a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache co-pilot/gunner.

On 8 July 2013, the Ministry of Defense announced that Prince Harry had successfully qualified as an Apache aircraft commander.

Royal duties


At the age of 21, Prince Harry was appointed as a Counsellor of State and began his royal duties by first serving in that capacity when the Queen was abroad to attend the 2005 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta. The following year, Harry was in Lesotho to visit again Mants'ase Children's Home near Mohale's Hoek, which he first toured in 2004 and, along with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, launched Sentebale: The Princes' Fund for Lesotho, a charity to aid children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. He has also granted his patronage to a number of other organisations, including WellChild, Dolen Cymru, and MapAction. To aid Sentebale, as well as the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and Centrepoint, Harry and his brother organised the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, on 1 July 2007.

Sport has also been a way that Harry has helped charities and other organisations, such as training as a Rugby Development Officer for the Rugby Football Union in 2004 and then coaching students in schools to encourage them to learn the sport. He has also participated in polo matches, like his brother and father, to raise money for charitable causes.

On 6 January 2009, the Queen granted Harry and William their own royal household. It has three main staff members, supported by a "small" team. Sir David Manning, the former British ambassador to Washington, works as a part-time adviser to the princes. Previously, William and Harry's affairs had been handled by the office of their father at Clarence House in central London. The brothers' new household released a statement – complete with their own cyphers at the top – announcing that they have established their own office at nearby St James's Palace to look after their public, military and charitable activities. Harry's cypher is similar to his brother's, but displays an H in a shade of blue similar to that used by his mother. In September 2009, Prince William and Prince Harry set up The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry to enable the princes to take forward their charitable ambitions. The foundation is the culmination of the princes’ charitable lives so far. In March 2012, Prince Harry led an official visit to Belize as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. He continued to the Bahamas and Jamaica, where the current Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, is considering severing ties between Jamaica and the constitutional monarchy. He next visited Brazil to attend the GREAT Campaign, as an ambassador of the 2012 Olympics to the 2016 Rio Olympics. On 12 August 2012, the Prince represented his grandmother, the Queen, at the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

From 9 to 15 May 2013, Harry was on an official visit to the United States. The tour promoted the rehabilitation of injured American and UK troops, publicised his own charities and supported British interests. It included engagements in Washington DC, Denver, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. He watched the opening ceremony of the Warrior Games, in Colorado Springs, where injured servicemen and women competed, and met survivors of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. Prince Harry is patron of the following organisations:
 * WellChild
 * Walking with the Wounded (2011 North Pole, 2012 Mount Everest, 2013 South Pole)
 * The Halo Trust's 25th Anniversary Appeal
 * London Marathon Charitable Trust
 * MapAction
 * Dolen Cymru
 * 100 Women in Hedge Funds' Philanthropic Initiatives
 * Rugby Football Union (Vice Patron)
 * Rugby Football Union Injured Players Foundation
 * Rugby Football Union All Schools Programme
 * School’s Games (President)
 * Henry Van Straubenzee Memorial Fund (Joint Patron with his brother)
 * Sentebale (co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho)
 * The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry (co-founded with his brother)

Personal life
Prince Harry enjoys playing many sporting activities, playing competitive polo, as well as skiing and motocross. Prince Harry is a supporter of Arsenal Football Club.

Harry earned a reputation in his youth for being rebellious, leading the tabloid press to label him as a "wild child." He was found at age 17 smoking cannabis and partaking in under-age drinking with his friends, would clash physically with paparazzi outside nightclubs, and was photographed at Highgrove House at a "Colonial and Native" themed costume party wearing a Nazi German Afrika Korps uniform with a swastika armband. He later issued a public statement apologising for his behaviour.

In January 2009, the British tabloid News of the World revealed a video made by Harry three years previously, in which he referred to a Pakistani fellow officer cadet as "our little Paki friend" and later called a soldier wearing a cloth on his head a "raghead". These terms were described by David Cameron as "unacceptable", and by The Daily Telegraph as "racist", and a British Muslim youth organisation called the Prince a "thug". Clarence House immediately issued an apology from Harry, who stated that no malice was intended in his remarks. A former British MP and Royal Marine, Rod Richards, said that such nicknames were common amongst military comrades, stating "in the Armed Forces people often used to call me Taffy. Others were called Yankie, Oz or Kiwi or whatever. I consider Paki as an abbreviation for Pakistani. I don't think on this occasion it was intended to be offensive."

While on holiday in Las Vegas in August 2012, Prince Harry, together with an unknown young woman, was photographed naked in a Wynn Las Vegas hotel room, reportedly during a game of strip billiards. The pictures were then leaked by American celebrity website TMZ on 21 August, before being reported worldwide by mainstream media on 22 August. The photographs were shown by the American media, but British media were reluctant to republish them – royal aides suggested that Clarence House may contact the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) if the pictures are used by British publications. St James's Palace confirmed that the prince was in the photographs, said that he was essentially a victim of sexting in a private moment, and contacted the Press Complaints Commission upon hearing that a number of British newspapers were considering publishing the photographs. On 24 August The Sun newspaper republished photographs in Britain.

Polls conducted in November 2012 showed Prince Harry to be the third most popular member of the British Royal family, after Prince William and the Queen.

Rumours have persisted that Harry might be the son of James Hewitt, with whom his mother had an affair, but this has been refuted by Hewitt and others, who point out that Harry was born before the affair began.

Relationships
Chelsy Davy, the daughter of a South African businessman, was referred to as Harry's girlfriend in an interview conducted for his 21st birthday, and Harry said he "would love to tell everyone how amazing she is but once I start talking about that, I have left myself open...There is truth and there is lies and unfortunately I cannot get the truth across." In early 2009, it was reported in the media that the pair had parted ways after knowing each other for five years.

Prince Harry later began a relationship with British socialite Cressida Bonas, granddaughter of Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe.

Titles and styles

 * 15 September 1984 – present: His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales

The Prince's style and title in full is His Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales. As a British prince he uses the name of the area over which his father holds title; i.e., Wales, as a territorial suffix in lieu of surname. Past precedent is that such surnames are dropped from usage in adulthood, after which either title alone, or Mountbatten-Windsor is used when necessary. Prince Harry, however, continues to use Wales as his surname for military purposes and is known as Captain Harry Wales in such contexts. If his father succeeds to the throne, Harry will be known as His Royal Highness The Prince Henry. Traditionally, sons of the reigning monarch and of the Prince of Wales receive a dukedom prior to marriage, the most recent being Prince William, who became Duke of Cambridge.

Military ranks

 * 🇬🇧 13 April 2006 – 13 April 2008: Cornet (Second Lieutenant), The Blues and Royals
 * 🇬🇧 13 April 2008 – 16 April 2011: Lieutenant, The Blues and Royals
 * 🇬🇧 16 April 2011 – Present: Captain, The Blues and Royals attached to Army Air Corps

Honours


See also List of honours of the British Royal Family by country


 * Medals
 * 6 February 2002: Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
 * 5 May 2008: Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan
 * 6 February 2012: Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal



Appointments

 * Fellowships
 * 🇯🇲 6 March 2012 – : Honorary Fellow of the University of the West Indies

Honorary military appointments

 * Canada
 * 10 November 2009 – present: Canadian Ranger


 * United Kingdom
 * 3 October 2008 – present: Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington
 * 8 August 2006 – present: Commodore-in-Chief of Small Ships and Diving

Humanitarian awards
Prince Harry has twice had his charitable efforts recognised by the international community. In December 2010, the German charity Ein Herz für Kinder ("Heart for Children") awarded him the Golden Heart Award, in recognition of his "charitable and humanitarian efforts".


 * 19 December 2010: Golden Heart Award
 * 7 May 2012: Atlantic Council's Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership Award

Ancestry
Harry is a male line descendant of Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg, and as such a member of the House of Oldenburg, one of Europe's oldest royal houses, and more specifically the cadet branch known as the House of Glücksburg, founded by his paternal ancestor Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. His paternal grandmother issued letters patent on 8 February 1960 declaring Harry's future father to be a member of the United Kingdom's reigning House of Windsor and a bearer of its name. However, their male line House of Oldenburg ancestors include five Danish kings — Christian I, Frederick I, Christian III, Christian IX, one Greek king – George I, as well as 11 counts of Oldenburg, two dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, five dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck and one duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Among his other recent, cognatic ancestors on his father's side are notable members of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the House of Battenberg, the main line of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, the House of Hesse-Kassel and the House of Hohenzollern. Among his distant cognatic ancestors are also Henry IV and James II and VII. Through his father's royal family, Harry is of German, English and Scottish descent, and through his mother's family, the Earl Spencer and the Baron Fermoy families, Harry is of English descent and of remote German, Irish, Scottish and British-American descent.