For some time now, Prince Henry of Wales, commonly referred to as Prince Harry, has
continued to remain a huge source of gossip and scandal throughout much of the world.
For many people, Harry was an eyesore, a spoiled kid of privilege who has no place in a modern,
monarchy-free world.
But to others, Harry has been a compassionate person, and sort of the “black sheep”
in the family who is much more harmless than the press let on.
For better or worse, he was one of the most eligible bachelors in the world, up until
his marriage to Meghan Markle that is.
But the fascination with Prince Harry is real, which means there is much more to know about
this highly controversial and popular British royal.
22.
Sixth in line- Queen Elizabeth the second is still going strong.
She is still the longest reigning British monarch and the longest who are still living.
But she’s not far away from retiring and letting her son prince Charles to take over
the reins for her.
Charles is first in line to the throne.
He’s expected to be succeeded by Harry’s older brother, Prince William.
Prince Harry was bumped up to sixth in line after William’s three children were born,
Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte.
If anything, this shows that older brothers really love to stick it to their younger siblings,
even royals.
But he was never closer than third place; it’s most likely that Prince Harry never
really had his heart set on becoming king in the first place.
21.
Could be king- Just because Prince Harry is sixth in the line of succession it doesn’t
mean his road to the throne is an impossible one.
Of course, there are a couple of ways for Harry to become king.
One way would be if someone ahead of him dies or retires, which would allow succession to
fall to him.
If for some reason Prince William didn’t become king, and his children were still young,
Prince Harry would become king.
But that would only be temporary until Prince George would become king after he becomes
an adult.
20.
Harry and Pippa- Prince William finally married his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton, now
she’s known as Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge.
When Harry and Kate’s sister, Pippa talked at the wedding, some people were wondering
if sparks were flying between them.
For years after the wedding, there were claims that Prince Harry was dating Pippa secretly.
And that the younger Middleton sister was planning to snatch a royal man for herself.
Prince Harry even filed a complaint against the Daily Star for publishing such a significantly
misleading story.
It’s kind of unusual for Harry to file a formal complaint because usually the royal
household’s ignores false reports instead of drawing attention to them.
I guess that one really got under his skin.
19.
Conspiracy theories- Despite Prince Harry’s resemblance to Prince Charles, there have
been rumors that Charles isn’t Harry’s birth father.
Some conspiracy theorists think that Princess Diana’s former lover James Hewitt is actually
his real dad.
They just both happen to have red hair just like Hewitt.
Princess Diana’s bodyguard claimed that it’s impossible for James Hewitt to be Harry’s
father.
All you have to do is some math to figure out that the rumor isn’t true.
Prince Henry was born on September 15, 1984.
Princess Diana didn’t start her fling with James until the summer of 1986.
The red hair that is what gossipers love to point out as proof, and as anyone who had
ever seen a picture of Diana’s sister, Jane, when she was younger will be able to testify.
18.
PR girl- Even though the Middleton rumors never gained much attention, Prince Harry
was linked to a woman named Juliette Labelle in 2016.
Although she was referred to as a “PR girl,” that ended up being false.
E! News wrote that Juliette didn’t work in PR, but a source said, “she used to work
for Christian Dior as a PR assistant.”
It was reported that the blonde beauty “hooked up” with Prince Harry when he flew to Los
Angeles in 2016.
Juliette told reporters that she didn’t know Prince Harry, but gossipers pointed out
a Twitter message that she made around the same time as their fling.
The post read, “Unless it’s mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it’s a waste of time.
There are too many mediocre things in life; love shouldn’t be one of them.”
So did Prince Harry break her heart?
We’ll probably never know.
17.
Nude scandal- Prince Harry has a well-earned reputation as a prince that parties hard and
it has resulted in some less than awesome moments for the royal.
One of Harry’s more infamous scandals were nude photos taken of him during a raunchy
party in Las Vegas.
Maybe Harry believed the saying “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”
Unfortunately for the wild royal, this is no longer true in the age of social media
and smartphones.
TMZ released the story which contained naked pictures of Harry clinging to a naked woman
after losing a game of “strip billiards.”
A few months after the photos were leaked Harry said, “I probably let myself down,
I let my family down, I let other people down.”
16.
Drug scandal- This might not be as embarrassing as the nude photos, but Harry has reportedly
admitted to using pot in the past.
The daily mail claims that Prince Charles was so concerned about Harry’s wild behavior
that he took him to Featherstone Lodge.
The treatment center where he listened to other people suffering from addiction and
warned him of the dangers of getting involved with drugs.
While the public is divided about whether or not pot is as dangerous as other drugs,
it’s easy to argue that a prince who smokes might not be a good look.
At least not when it sits with a slew of unflattering scandals.
15.
Military career- Prince Harry had a distinguished military career spanning about ten years before
he retired from the British Army in 2015.
Kensington Palace said, “the prince has had a fulfilling military career and considers
it a huge honor to have served his country in the Armed Forces.”
His decade of service included two separate tours of Afghanistan, which he achieved the
rank of Captain and also earned him the nickname “Captain Wales.”
When he announced his plans to retire in March 2015, Harry had said he wanted to leave the
military so that he could spend his time helping wounded service members, working with charities
and help people who are battling AIDS.
14.
Racism- The Royals aren’t viewed as the most “in touch” people in the world.
That might be why Prince Harry thought nothing about using a slang word to describe some
of his fellow soldiers.
In 2009 a video was released in which Harry is heard referring to one of his Sandhurst
colleagues as “our little Paki friend” and another as a “raghead.”
The prince apologized for his statements to BBC News saying, “ Prince Harry fully understands
how offensive this term can be, and is extremely sorry for any offence his words might cause,”
A statement from St. James's Palace read “however on this occasion three years ago Prince Harry
used the term without any disrespect and as a nickname about a highly popular member of
his platoon.
There is no question that Prince Harry was in any way seeking to insult his friend.
Prince Harry used the term raghead to mean Taleban or Iraqi insurgent.”
13.
Compassion- Prince Harry would retire from the military and spend more time focusing
on advocacy and charity work which isn’t too surprising.
One thing that many people have said about Harry is that he inherited Princess Diana’s
determination and compassion to make the world a better place.
He even went live on Facebook and took an HIV test, and the result, of course, was negative.
12.
Grocery shopping- Prince Harry has made it clear that he wants to lead as healthy a life
as possible.
This includes running his own errands and doing his own food shopping.
In an interview for Newsweek he said that even if he were king, he would do his own
shopping.
11.
Social development- The Duke is a keen sportsman and sees the potential to use sport in the
education and engagement of children and young people.
Along with his brother, and sister in law, The Duchess of Cambridge, has worked with
the Foundation to build a model that helps improves the availability and quality of sports
coaching in schools and communities.
The “Coach Core” programme helps train young people and kids as professional sports
coaches while they're still in school.
It also aims to improve the availability and quality of sports coaching and mentoring in
city schools and creating employment when many young people are facing long-term unemployment.
10.
Heads together- In 2017 the Duke of Sussex spearheaded the Heads Together mental health
campaign with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
It leads to eight mental health charity partners to change the national conversation about
mental health.
The campaign is aimed at existing progress nationwide in raising awareness and providing
great help for people with mental health problems.
The team of charities covered a wide range of mental health issues that are close to
the Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry’s passions.
They were: Best Beginnings, Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, CALM - The
Campaign Against Living Miserably, and The Mix young Minds.
Heads Together were to be the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon Charity of the Year
giving the campaign a real platform to raise funds for the charity partners and to start
tons of conversations about mental health.
9.
Invictus Games- After attending and being impressed by the Warrior Games for injured
U.S. service people and veterans, Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games, which is an international
sporting competition for sick and injured veterans and people who served in the military.
The competition debuted in London in 2014, took its name from William Ernest Henley's
inspirational poem “Invictus.”
Funding was made possible by the Royal Foundation created by William and his wife Catherine,
along with a donation by the government from the London Interbank Offered Rate fund.
A pool of fines collected from banks that were punished for violating banking rules
such as manipulating the LIBOR.
The Invictus Games include athletics like track and field, archery, rugby, wheelchair
basketball, sitting volleyball, rowing, road cycling, and swimming.
When creating the significance of the Games Harry said, “These Games have shone a spotlight
on the “unconquerable” character of service men and women and their families and their
“Invictus” spirit.
These Games have been about seeing guys sprinting for the finish line and then turning round
to clap the last man in.
They have been about teammates choosing to cross the line together, not wanting to come
second, but not wanting the other guys to either.
These Games have shown the very best of the human spirit.”
8.
His birth name- His real name isn't’ actually Harry.
His given name is Henry Charles Albert David.
Harry is just his nickname!
7.
Inheritance- Both William and Harry received no inheritance until their 30th birthdays.
In addition to the $10 million sum, Harry also inherited his mother’s famous wedding
dress and jewelry.
6.
Raised normal- Princess Diana wanted her children to have the same experiences as everybody
else.
This surprisingly included trips to McDonald's, as well as waiting in line to visit Santa
Clause at the store.
5.
Hacked- When private information started to leak to the media, Prince Harry was worried
that his friends and close personal assistants had been leaking the information.
It came as a relief when he found out that professional hackers had succeeded in accessing
his private phone messages and were leaking them to the press.
That must’ve been an uneasy feeling!
4.
Jokes- During the 2015 Royal Variety show, former classmate and comedian Jack Whitehall
tossed some roasts his way.
When it came time to shake hands, after all was said and done, Harry pretended to snub
the comedian out of the handshake.
It was all in good fun, and everyone got a good laugh out of the bit between the two
jokesters.
3.
Pretty tall- Harry stands at 6’2, and is the second tallest in the royal family, right
behind his brother William who is 6’3.
The only other royal to reach such tall heights was Edward, who was crowned in 1272.
And in case you didn’t know, the queen is only 5’4!
2.
Rugby- Prince Harry has spoken honestly about how his opponents and teammates took rugby
as an opportunity to toss extra blows his way.
Even when he didn’t have the ball, players would pile up on top of him on purpose just
to bully him and would cause minor injuries.
But he also said that he gave his fair share of blows back at them!
1.
Mother’s - Prince Harry is one of the first royals to speak openly about mental health
issues.
He told the Telegraph that it took until his 20s to seek professional counseling after
general turmoil and anxiety after Princess.
This goes along with his desire to modernize the throne and to raise important issues that
all of us humans cope with in everyday life.