Prince Harry Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here is a look at the life of Britain’s Prince Harry.
Personal
Birth date: September 15, 1984
Birth place: London, England at St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington
Birth name: Henry Charles Albert David
Father: Charles, the Prince of Wales
Mother: Diana, the Princess of Wales
Marriage: Rachel Meghan (Markle) Windsor (May 19, 2018-present)
Children: Archie Harrison, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana
Education: Eton College, 1998-2003; Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 2005
Military: British Army, 2011-2015, Captain
Other Facts
Military name is Captain Harry Wales.
Is referred to as Prince Harry or Duke of Sussex.
Founder of the Invictus Games, an international sporting competition for injured servicemen and women. The first games were held in London in 2014.
Timeline
December 21, 1984 – Is christened Prince Henry Charles Albert David at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
September 6, 1997 – Attends his mother’s funeral.
November 1997 – Accompanies his father to South Africa, where he meets President Nelson Mandela, goes on a safari, and meets the pop group the Spice Girls.
January 2002 – A confession of heavy drinking and marijuana use when he was 16, prompts his father to send him to the drug rehab center, Phoenix House UK, for a day.
September 15, 2002 – For his 18th birthday, Harry receives his official coat of arms as a birthday present from his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
May 18, 2003 – Is promoted to cadet officer, the highest rank in the Combined Cadet Corps.
January 2005 – Pictures surface of him wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party. He apologizes days later.
May 2005 – Begins military training at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy.
September 15, 2005 – Replaces his uncle Edward, the Earl of Wessex, as a Counsellor of State. As a counsellor, Prince Philip and four adult members of the royal family in the line of succession, are to carry out the duties of the Queen in her absence.
December 12, 2006 – Prince William and Harry announce their plans for a concert and memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of their mother’s death. The Concert for Diana is held on July 1, 2007, and features Elton John and Duran Duran. The memorial service takes place on August 31.
April 12, 2006 – Graduates from Sandhurst as a 2nd lieutenant.
April 2006 – Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho co-found a charity to help Lesotho’s AIDS orphans. The organization is named Sentebale, which means “forget me not” in the language of Lesotho.
February 2007 – The British Ministry of Defense announces that Harry will be deployed to Iraq with his army unit.
May 16, 2007 – Sir Richard Dannatt, the chief of the general staff, announces that Harry will not deploy to Iraq because of several threats against him.
February 28, 2008 – The British Ministry of Defense announces that Harry has secretly been serving in Afghanistan with his Army unit on a four-month mission since December 2007. The next day, he is withdrawn from Afghanistan for security reasons.
May 5, 2008 – Princess Anne presents Harry and his unit, the Household Cavalry Regiment, with the Operational Service Medal for their time in Afghanistan.
May 2009 – During his first official visit to the United States, Harry visits Ground Zero and leaves a wreath of flowers with a signed note.
May 7, 2010 – Completes the Army Pilots Course and receives his provisional “wings.”
July 2010 – Begins Apache helicopter training with the Army Air Corps.
March 29-April 5, 2011 – Accompanies the Walking with the Wounded Expedition to the North Pole.
April 14, 2011 – Is promoted to captain and qualifies as an Apache helicopter pilot.
October 2011 – Trains in the California and Arizona deserts with Apache helicopters during Exercise Crimson Eagle.
August 21, 2012 – TMZ posts photos of the prince partying nude in a Las Vegas hotel. A few days later, British tabloid The Sun publishes the photos.
September 7, 2012 – Harry arrives in Afghanistan to begin serving a 20-week deployment as an Apache helicopter pilot. He returns home in January 2013.
May 9-16, 2013 – A week-long official visit to the United States begins in Washington, DC, and ends in Greenwich, Connecticut. During his stay the prince meets with First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House, plays volleyball in Colorado Springs with wounded veterans and tours areas stricken by Hurricane Sandy with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
December 13, 2013 – Harry and a trekking team made up of servicemen and women reach the South Pole as part of a charity event.
January 2014 – Begins a new Army position as a Staff Officer (SO3). He also remains with the Household Cavalry Regiment based in London as a commissioned officer.
September 2014 – Turns 30. The terms of Princess Diana’s will state that her 1981 wedding gown is to be given to Prince William and Prince Harry on this date.
June 19, 2015 – Kensington Palace announces that Harry has ended his career with the Army.
August 22, 2015 – Harry joins the inaugural “Walk of Britain” to raise awareness for wounded warriors. The Walk begins in Aberdeen, Scotland and ends at Buckingham Palace, a trek of 1,000 miles.
November 27, 2017 – Engagement to American actress Meghan Markle is announced.
May 19, 2018 – The Queen confers Dukedom on Prince Harry of Wales. His titles will be Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel.
May 19, 2018 – Marries Markle at St. George’s Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
April 10, 2019 – It is announced that Harry and Oprah Winfrey are partnering on a multi-part documentary series focusing on mental health. The series is set to air on the Apple TV platform in 2020.
May 6, 2019 – Duchess Meghan gives birth to the couple’s first child, a son weighing 7 lbs., 3 oz. The baby is named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
October 4, 2019 – Harry files claims against the owners of The Sun and The Daily Mirror tabloids for allegedly hacking his phone. This comes days after he publishes an online statement denouncing the ‘bullying’ British media, accusing the Mail on Sunday tabloid of unlawfully editing, then publishing a private letter written by his wife, Meghan. On June 6, 2023, Harry becomes the first senior British royal to give evidence on a witness stand in 132 years, as his bitter fight against the UK’s tabloid press comes to a head in a tense courtroom showdown. On December 15, 2023, the UK High Court rules that Harry was the subject of “extensive” phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) from 2006 to 2011.
January 8, 2020 – Harry and Meghan announce that they are stepping back from their roles as senior members of the British royal family and plan to work toward becoming “financially independent” and to split their time between the United Kingdom and North America.
January 18, 2020 – The Queen issues a statement announcing that Harry and Meghan will no longer be working members of the royal family. Along with stepping away from official royal duties and ceasing the use of public funds, the couple will no longer use the titles of His and Her Royal Highness.
March 9, 2020 – Harry and Meghan attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. This is their final engagement as senior members of the royal family.
May 2020 – Harry introduces a special edition of an animated program about “Thomas the Tank Engine.” The episode, “Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine,” features animations of the Queen and Prince Charles as a child.
July 23, 2020 – It is announced that Harry and Meghan are suing over paparazzi photographs of their son, Archie. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are filing this lawsuit to protect their young son’s right to privacy in their home without intrusion by photographers,” lawyer Michael Kump said in a statement. In October, they receive an apology and X17, the agency responsible, agrees to pay a portion of their legal fees.
September 2, 2020 – Harry and Meghan sign a multiyear production deal with Netflix.
February 1, 2021 – Settles a dispute with the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline, accepting what his legal team call “significant damages” over an article from October 2020 alleging he had turned his back on the Royal Marines.
February 17, 2021 – Buckingham Palace announces that Harry and Meghan have agreed with Queen Elizabeth II that they will not be returning as working members of the British royal family.
March 7, 2021 – Harry and Meghan’s highly-anticipated sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey airs. Over the course of the two-hour special, the couple is intensely critical of the way Britain’s Royal institution treated them, and say the couple had no option but to leave royal life.
March 23, 2021 – Harry joins BetterUp as its chief impact officer. BetterUp is a Silicon Valley startup that provides coaching and mental health services to client.
May 21, 2021 – Harry and Winfrey’s multi-part documentary series “The Me You Can’t See,” featuring stories meant to help lift the veil on the current state of mental health and emotional well-being, premieres on Apple TV+.
June 4, 2021 – Duchess Meghan gives birth to a daughter, the second child for the couple. The baby is named Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor and was born at 11:40 a.m., weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
June 2, 2022 – Harry and Meghan attend the Queen’s birthday parade in London, their first joint public appearance with the royal family since they quit as working royals two years ago. They do not join other royals for the traditional balcony appearance following the parade.
January 10, 2023 – Harry’s memoir titled “Spare,” a reference to the Duke of Sussex’s role as the monarchy’s “spare heir,” is published.
April 12, 2023 – Buckingham Palace announces that Harry will attend the coronation of King Charles, but Meghan will remain in the United States with the couple’s children.
May 17, 2023 – Harry and Meghan were involved in a chaotic car chase with paparazzi in New York that could have resulted in a “catastrophic” outcome, their spokesperson alleges. Police say “numerous” photographers made the Sussexes’ transport “challenging,” but that there were no reported collisions, injuries or arrests.
June 16, 2023 – A joint statement is released announcing the end of a multi-year partnership between Spotify and Harry and Meghan’s company, Archewell Audio.
July 11, 2024 – Harry receives the 2024 Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPYS event in Los Angeles amid a backlash prompted by the mother of the award’s namesake, a football player who gave up his NFL career after 9/11 to serve his country.
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