In Pictures: 35 photos to mark Harry’s 35th birthday
Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, now the Duke of Sussex, was born on September 15 1984.
The Duke of Sussex is celebrating his birthday, so here’s 35 photos to mark Harry’s 35 years.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’s youngest son was born at 4.20pm on September 15 1984, weighing 6lb 14oz.
He came into the world at the private Lindo wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, central London, in the same room where older brother Prince William was born two years earlier.
Charles told crowds outside that his second son had “pale blue eyes” and hair of “a sort-of indeterminate colour”.
He was named Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, but the Waleses announced he was to be known as Harry.
Harry was pictured with his mother as an eight-month-old, dressed in a bobble hat tied under his chin, at an airport after disembarking the Queen’s Flight.
The youngster was also a regular on the Buckingham Palace balcony for Trooping the Colour and was pictured in 1986, pursing his lips and puffing out his cheeks as he watched the celebrations with Diana and William.
Harry had a hernia operation at Great Ormond Street in 1988 when he was just three.
He was seen heading back to nursery, wearing striped bermuda shorts and a leather bomber jacket, after recovering from the surgery.
In 1989, five-year-old Harry was dressed up in a wide-brimmed hat, frills and a large burgundy sash as a pageboy at the wedding of his uncle Viscount Althorp, now Earl Spencer, in 1989.
As a youngster, Harry was only called “Henry” when he had been “very, very naughty”, Charles revealed.
On his sixth birthday, the prince was spotted putting his hand over the mouth of two-year-old Princess Beatrice on the palace balcony as they watched the Battle of Britain 50th Anniversary Parade in 1990.
Harry had already become known for greeting photographers by sticking his tongue out.
Harry and William channelled double-denim in 1991 when they visited HMCS Ottawa in Toronoto, Canada, and were given baseball caps by the ship’s crew.
The prince, then third in line to the throne, was educated at Mrs Mynors Nursery School in west London, then pre-prep Wetherby School, followed by Ludgrove School in Berkshire, and Eton.
He showed an interest in the Army at an early edge and was delighted at the chance to ride in a light tank during a visit to the barracks of the Light Dragoons in Hannover, Germany, in 1993.
Behind the scenes, Harry witnessed the breakdown of his parents’ marriage.
Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and finally divorced in 1996.
Harry was only 12 when Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.
His openness in recent years about how he battled to cope and how he came close to a “complete breakdown” after not talking about his mother’s death has won plaudits from mental health charities.
In the years that followed, media agreements to leave Harry and William alone in the wake of Diana’s death while they were still in education meant that the reporting on their teen years was limited.
Two months after Diana was killed, Harry joined his father on tour in South Africa, meeting the Spice Girls and Nelson Mandela.
When Harry completed his studies at Eton, he posed for photos in his college room.
In the cluttered dwelling, which he decorated himself, was a framed black and white portrait of his late mother, a large England flag, an Indian-style fabric wall-hanging, several mugs, some Duchy Originals mineral water, a can of Lynx deodorant, and a number of bikini-clad pin-up posters of predominantly blondes including the model Caprice.
Harry produced his fair share of scandal over the years.
He brawled with a paparazzi photographer, dabbled with cannabis, sparked worldwide outrage by dressing up as a Nazi and stripped off in Las Vegas during a game of billiards.
The prince also set up his own charity Sentebale to help orphaned children in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho.
He spent 10 years in the forces after training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Harry fought for his country in the Army, undertaking two frontline tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Now a full-time royal, he is passionate about his charitable causes, including supporting military veterans by setting up the Invictus Games, as well as backing mental health campaigns and carrying out his role as the Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.
He represented his grandmother the Queen overseas for the first time in 2012 on a successful tour to Belize, the Bahamas and Jamaica to mark her Diamond Jubilee, and again in 2016 on a two-week tour to the Caribbean which saw him play cricket, release baby turtles into the sea and get tested for HIV with superstar Rihanna to raise awareness on World Aids Day.
Harry met Suits star Meghan Markle on a blind date in 2016 and his romance with the American actress developed quickly.
Theatre dates followed, along with romantic African holidays and expeditions to see the Northern Lights.
Six months in and just days after it became public they were dating, Harry took the unusual step of issuing a lengthy statement condemning media treatment of his girlfriend and criticising the “wave of abuse and harassment” she was facing.
Harry proposed during a cosy night in over a roast chicken and designed his future wife an engagement ring made using two diamonds from Diana’s personal collection and a central diamond sourced from Botswana.
The couple married in a glittering ceremony in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in May 2018.
At the start of the newlyweds’ tour of Australia in the autumn of 2018, it was announced Meghan was expecting a baby.
Archie Mountbatten-Windsor was born in May 2019, with proud father Harry describing his son as “absolutely to-die-for” and his birth as the “most amazing experience I could ever have possibly imagined”.
Harry’s engagements in 2019 have included a fundraising concert at Hampton Court for Sentebale, launching Made in Sport to help deliver sport in disadvantage communities, attending the Lion King European premiere, visiting Sheffield Children’s Hospital and marking five years of the Invictus Games.
Family celebrations have included the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor, where he was pictured with his grandmother the Queen.
Harry faced a row in the summer over his use of private jets despite championing environmental issues.
The Sussexes are about to embark on their first official overseas tour as family of three, when they head to South Africa in just over a week’s time with Archie.
The Press Association
Latest posts by The Press Association (see all)
- 5 new books to read this week - November 23, 2024
- 3 easy Mary Berry recipes to make this season - November 22, 2024
- In Pictures: Party stalwart kept New Labour in touch with traditional supporters - November 21, 2024
- 6 easy indoor exercises to try this winter – and why they are good for you - November 19, 2024
- Martin Clunes: I can’t afford to retire – I’ve got too many horses - November 19, 2024