Royal Profile: HRH Prince Harry of Wales

Henry Charles Albert David Mountbatten-Windsor (aka Prince Harry of Wales) was born at 4.20pm on 15th September, 1984 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in central London. He weighed 6lb 14oz.

On 21st December 1984, Prince Henry Charles Albert David was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. His godparents were:

1. The Prince Andrew, paternal uncle
2. The Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, paternal second cousin
3. Lady Vestey
4. Mrs. William Bartholomew
5. Bryan Organ
6. Gerald Ward

After attending Mrs Mynors School, Prince Harry became a pupil at Wetherby School in London, from September 1987. In September 1992, Harry joined his older brother William at Ludgrove School in Berkshire.He then attended Eton College from September 1998 where he took his GCSE’s and A Levels.

After completing his A Levels, Prince Harry took a gap year during which he visited Australia, Argentina and Africa, where he made a documentary about the plight of orphans in Lesotho.

Prince Harry entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in May 2005. He successfully completed a 44-week training course as an Officer Cadet, before being commissioned in April 2006 as a Second Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals).

During this period, Prince Harry co-founded the charity Sentebale with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in memory of their mothers (Sentebale means ‘Forget me not’) to support orphans and vulnerable children in Lesotho.

In February 2008, Prince Harry completed more than two months service with the British Army in Helmand province, Afghanistan, as a ‘Forward Air Controller’ for NATO forces. On 13th April 2008, Prince Harry was promoted from Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant. In January 2009, he began a two-and-a-half year training course to become a fully operational, full-time Army Air Corps helicopter pilot. He remains an officer in the Household Cavalry during the training period.

Prince Harry’s principal residences are at Clarence House in London and Highgrove in Gloucestershire.

A new Household Office was set up at St James’s Palace, London, for Prince Harry and for his brother, Prince William, in January 2009 to reflect their growing public lives.

The Prince is currently Patron of a number of charities and organisations (including Sentebale) and he holds two honorary military appointments (in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force).

The Prince focuses much of his charitable activity around the Princes’ Charities Forum, a grouping of organisations with which he and his brother have close links and which assists in promoting ideas and joint initiatives to the benefit of all the members.