Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex[fn 2] KCVO (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to the British throne.
"Prince Harry" redirects here. For other uses, see Prince Harry (disambiguation).Prince Harry
Prince Henry of Wales
15 September 1984
St Mary's Hospital, London, England, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
2005–2015
564673
- Blues and Royals
- 662 Squadron
- 3 Regiment
- Army Air Corps
Educated at Wetherby School, Ludgrove School, and Eton College, Harry completed army officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a cornet into the Blues and Royals and served temporarily with his elder brother, William. Harry was separately deployed on active duty to Afghanistan on two occasions; the first was in 2007–2008 for ten weeks in Helmand Province. The second was for twenty weeks in 2012–2013 with the Army Air Corps.
Inspired by the Warrior Games in the United States, Harry launched the Invictus Games in 2014 as founding patron and now remains involved in a non-royal capacity. Two years later, alongside his brother William and sister-in-law Catherine, Harry jointly initiated the mental health awareness campaign "Heads Together".
In 2018 Harry was made Duke of Sussex prior to his wedding to American actress Meghan Markle. They have two children: Archie and Lilibet. Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in January 2020, moved to Meghan's native Southern California, and launched Archewell Inc., a Beverly Hills-based mix of for-profit and not-for-profit (charitable) business organisations. In March 2021, Harry sat for Oprah with Meghan and Harry, a much-publicised American television interview with his wife and Oprah Winfrey. The couple filmed Harry & Meghan, a Netflix docuseries, which was released in December 2022.
Education
Like his father and brother, Harry was educated at private schools. He started at London's Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School.[20] Following this, he attended Ludgrove School in Berkshire. After passing entrance exams, he was admitted to Eton College. The decision to place Harry at Eton went against the past practice of the Mountbatten-Windsors to send children to Gordonstoun, which his grandfather, father, two uncles, and two cousins had attended. It did, however, see Harry follow in his elder brother's footsteps and the Spencer family's, as both his mother's father and her brother attended Eton.[10] As was the case with his brother, the royal family and the tabloid press agreed Harry would be allowed to study free from intrusion in exchange for occasional photograph opportunities in what became known as the "pressure cooker agreement".[21]
In June 2003, Harry completed his education at Eton with two A-Levels,[22] achieving a grade B in art and D in geography, having decided to drop history of art after AS level.[23] He has been described as "a top tier athlete", having played competitive polo and rugby union.[24] One of his former teachers, Sarah Forsyth, has asserted that he was a "weak student" and that staff at Eton conspired to help him cheat on examinations.[25][26] Both Eton and Harry denied the claims.[25][27] While a tribunal made no ruling on the cheating claim, it "accepted the prince had received help in preparing his A-level 'expressive' project, which he needed to pass to secure his place at Sandhurst."[25][28] Harry also joined the Combined Cadet Force while studying at Eton and was made cadet officer in his final year, leading the corps' annual parade at the Eton tattoo.[29]
After school, Harry took a gap year, during which he spent time in Australia working as a jackaroo on a cattle station, and participating in the Young England vs Young Australia Polo Test match.[30][31] He also travelled to Lesotho, where he worked with orphaned children and produced the documentary film The Forgotten Kingdom: Prince Harry in Lesotho.[32][33]
Personal life
Bachelorhood
Chelsy Davy, the daughter of Zimbabwean South Africa-based businessman Charles Davy, 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."[115] Davy was present when Harry received his Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan[60] and also attended his graduation ceremony when he received his flying wings from his father.[64] In early 2009, it was reported the pair had parted ways after a relationship that had lasted for five years.[116]
In his 2023 memoir, Harry states that months after breaking up with Davy he was introduced to Caroline Flack, whom he described as "funny", "sweet", and "cool".[117] The two saw each other for a while before press intrusion "tainted" their relationship "irredeemably" according to Harry.[117] Flack had discussed the relationship in her own autobiography as well.[118][119]
In May 2012, Harry's cousin Princess Eugenie introduced him to Cressida Bonas, an actress and model who is the granddaughter of Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe.[120] On 30 April 2014, it was reported that the couple had parted amicably.[121]
Civilian career and investments
In summer 2019, before announcing their decision to step back in January 2020, Harry and his wife were involved in talks with Jeffrey Katzenberg, the founder of the now-defunct streaming platform Quibi, over a possible role in the service without gaining personal profits, but they eventually decided against joining the project.[270] In September 2019, it was reported that the couple had hired New York-based PR firm Sunshine Sachs, which represented them until 2022.[271][272][273] The couple has also been associated with Adam Lilling's Plus Capital, a venture capital fund designed to connect early stage companies with influencers and investors.[274] In June 2020, they signed with the Harry Walker Agency, owned by media company Endeavor, to conduct paid public speaking engagements.[275] In September 2020, the Sussexes signed a private commercial deal with Netflix.[276] In December 2020, the Duke and Duchess signed a multi-year deal with Spotify to produce and host their own programs through their audio producing company, Archewell Audio.[277][278] A holiday special was released by the couple on the service in December 2020.[279] In June 2023, Spotify announced they would not proceed with the deal, cancelling Archetypes which had run for a single season of 12 episodes.[280] Harry & Meghan, a docuseries about the Sussexes, was produced by Netflix and the couple's Archewell Productions and premiered on 8 December 2022. It is directed by Liz Garbus.[281] The series received mixed reviews.[282]
In March 2021, San Francisco-based mental health start-up BetterUp, a company that helps people get in contact with coaches or counsellors, said that Harry would become its first chief impact officer.[283][284] In the same month, Harry was appointed as a commissioner for the Aspen Institute's Commission on Information Disorder to carry out a six-month study on the state of misinformation and disinformation in the United States.[285] The study was published in November 2021 as a report with 15 recommendations.[286] In the following month, in his capacity as BetterUp's chief impact officer, Harry was interviewed by Fast Company, stating that the recent trend of people leaving their jobs (known as the Great Resignation) was something that needed to be celebrated, though his remarks were criticised for coming from a position of privilege.[287][288] In April 2022, reports emerged of criticism by the company's coaches over the new metrics placed for evaluating their services and over the opacity surrounding Harry's actual role in the firm.[289]
In April 2019, it was announced that Harry was working as co-creator and executive producer on a documentary series about mental health together with Oprah Winfrey, which was initially set to air in 2020 on Apple TV+.[290] It was later announced that the series, titled The Me You Can't See, would be released on 21 May 2021.[291] In the following month, UCAS reported an increase in the percentage of students declaring mental health issues on their university applications, citing self-help books and Harry's statements on his struggles with "panic attacks and anxiety" as contributing factors.[292] In October 2021, Harry and Meghan announced their partnership with Ethic, a sustainable investment firm based in New York City, which also manages the couple's investments.[293][294] According to state filings from Delaware, where the couple's Archewell foundation is registered, Harry and Meghan incorporated 11 companies and a trust beginning in early 2020 which include Orinoco Publishing LLC and Peca Publishing LLC to hold the rights for their books as well as Cobblestone Lane LLC and IPHW LLC which are holders of their foundation's logos.[295]
In July 2021, it was announced that Harry was set to publish his memoir Spare via Penguin Random House, with Harry reportedly earning an advance of at least $20 million.[296][297] Spare was ghostwritten by novelist J. R. Moehringer.[298][299] The memoir is reportedly the first of a four-book publishing deal that is set to include a second book by Harry and a wellness guide by Meghan.[300] Spare was officially published on 10 January 2023 in 16 languages, and it has since become the UK's fastest selling non-fiction book with 400,000 confirmed sales in all formats on publication day.[301][302] Harry announced that $1.5 million of the proceeds from the memoir were pledged to the charity Sentebale,[303] while £300,000 would be given to WellChild.[304]
Charity work
Humanitarian and environmental activities
In 2006 Harry visited Mants'ase Children's Home near Mohale's Hoek in Lesotho, which he had first toured in 2004, and alongside Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, he launched Sentebale: The Princes' Fund for Lesotho, a charity to assist children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. He has granted his patronage to organisations including WellChild, Dolen Cymru, MapAction and the London Marathon Charitable Trust; he stepped down from MapAction in 2019 and the London Marathon Charitable Trust in 2021.[305][306][307] In 2007 he and William organised the Concert for Diana, in memory of their mother, which benefited the charities and patronages of Diana, William, and Harry.[308] In October 2008, Harry and his brother embarked on the 1,000 mile eight-day Enduro Africa motorbike ride across South Africa to raise money for Sentebale, UNICEF and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.[309] In September 2009, William and Harry set up The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry to enable them to take forward their charitable ambitions.[310][311][312] Harry left the charity in June 2019.[313]
After taking part in an unfinished trip to the North Pole with Walking With The Wounded in 2011, Harry joined the charity's 200-mile expedition to the South Pole in December 2013, accompanying twelve injured servicemen and women from the UK, the US and the Commonwealth.[314][315] As patron of Walk of Britain, he walked with the team on 30 September[316] and 20 October 2015.[317] To raise awareness for HIV testing, Harry took a test live on the royal family Facebook page on 14 July 2016.[318] He later attended the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, on 21 July 2016.[319][320] On World AIDS Day, Harry and Rihanna helped publicise HIV testing by taking the test themselves.[321] Since 2016 Harry has been working with Terrence Higgins Trust to raise awareness about HIV and sexual health.[322][323] In November 2019, to mark the National HIV Testing Week, the Duke interviewed HIV+ Rugby player Gareth Thomas on behalf of the trust.[324]
In December 2017, Harry guest edited BBC Radio 4's Today programme, conducting interviews with his father, then Prince of Wales, former US president Barack Obama, and others on issues such as youth violence, the Armed Forces, mental health, the Commonwealth, conservation and the environment.[325][326] Harry was officially appointed the new president of African Parks (a conservation NGO) on 27 December 2017, a position which he held until 2023 when he was appointed a member of its board of directors.[327][328] He had previously spent three weeks in Malawi with African Parks where he joined a team of volunteers and professionals to carry out one of the largest elephant translocations in history. The effort to repopulate areas decimated due to poaching and habitat loss moved 500 elephants from Liwonde and Majete National Parks to Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve.[329] Harry had previously helped with relocating rhinos in the Okavango Delta and later became patron of the Rhino Conservation Botswana.[330] In July 2018, the Elton John AIDS Foundation announced that the Duke of Sussex and British singer Elton John were about to launch a global coalition called MenStar that would focus "on treating HIV infections in men".[331][332]
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
Harry was originally styled "His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales". He used Wales as his surname for military purposes and was known as "Captain Harry Wales" in such contexts.[504]
On the morning of his wedding,[505] Elizabeth II granted him the Dukedom of Sussex, the Earldom of Dumbarton and Barony of Kilkeel. He thus became known as "His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex". He uses the earldom in Scotland[506] and the barony in Northern Ireland.[507][508]
On 18 January 2020, Buckingham Palace announced that, following their decision to step back from royal duties, from 31 March 2020 the Duke and Duchess would not use their Royal Highness styles in practice. They are still referred to as "His/Her Royal Highness" in legal settings.[509][510][511]