Royals

Celebrating 30 years of Prince Harry

As Prince Harry celebrates his 30th birthday today, we take a look back at 30 years of the ginger-haired Prince.
Prince Harry

From his early days as a cheeky toddler playing with his mother Diana and his older brother William, to his twenties when he became known as the Party Prince, Harry has always had that same jovial spark that makes him so endearing to the public.

Does turning 30 mean that Harry has matured out of his frolicking fun seeker days? We doubt it! But he does seem a lot keener to take on responsibilites and we hope that we soon see him follow in his older brother’s footsteps with a grand royal wedding to a lovely bride!

Happy Birthday to Harry – here’s to another 30 years of rollicking good times with the ginger haired Prince!

Prince Charles and Princess Diana leave the hospital with the baby Prince Harry in 1984.

A very adorable baby Harry shows off his crawling skills.

A cute toddler Harry gives a grin as he gets a hug from his mum.

A young William and Harry show off their piano-playing skills.

A young Prince Harry with his dad Prince Charles and a mini Prince William with mother Princess Diana, posing in a flower meadow outside their family home at Highgrove.

The young Princes look adorable as they play the piano with mum Princess Diana.

Prince Harry looks up and grins at big brother Prince William on his very first day of school!

A young Prince Harry shows off some very stylish specs on a skiing trip with mum Princess Diana and big brother Prince William.

Princess Diana always did her best to ensure that Harry and William would have as normal a childhood as possible – taking them on fun days out to the amusement park.

A young Prince Harry attending the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London.

Prince Harry, his mother Princess Diana, father Prince Charles and Dr Andrew Gailey accompany William to his first day at high school – Eton College.

After the tragic death of their mother, Princess Diana, the public were moved by the young Princes’ decision to accompany their mother’s hearse to her funeral – walking behind with their heads bowed.

Prince Harry remembers his mother by visiting some of the many thousands of floral tributes that were laid out in front of the public by well-wishers.

Prince Harry thanks a member of the public who presented him flowers and condolences following the news of his mother’s death.

It wasn’t long before Harry followed in his older brother’s footsteps and donned the posh uniform of Eton College. This time though, he was sadly not accompanied by his mother Princess Diana on his first day.

A few years on, a teenaged Prince Harry takes a penalty kick during a visit to West Ham United’s Upton Park football ground.

Prince Harry poses in his study during his final year at Eton college. A portrait of his mother Diana can be seen on his desk.

Prince Harry caught in a scrum during a school game at Eton college.

Prince Harry practises his creative skills in the art room at Eton college in his final year.

Prince Harry shows off his theatrical skills, performing in a school play at Eton.

Getting studious by the picture of his late mother Diana, at Eton in 2002.

After he graduated from Eton, Harry took a gap year, spending time in Australia.

Harry spent some of his gap year working as a Jackaroo on a cattle station in Tooloombilla, Australia.

A teenaged Prince Harry on a family skiing holiday with his brother Prince William and dad Prince Charles.

A 21-year-old Harry marching with fellow cadets in a parade at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy in 2005.

It was around his early military days – age 21, that he was first linked to Chelsy Davy.

Harry and Chelsy weren’t shy of showing their affections in public.

Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy would continue to have an on-again-off-again relationship for the next several years.

The Prince of course saw active service in Afghanistan, during his time in the army.

Prince Harry on duty, and unwinding with a game of football, while on service in Afghanistan.

As well as his time in his military, Harry also devoted much of his twenties to charity work. Here, he visited Lesotho in 2006 to launch his charity called ‘Sentebale’, which means ‘Forget me not’ in memory of his mother Princess Diana.

Prince Harry and Chelsy continued their on-again-off-again relationship up until 2009.

Chelsy was often invited to family events – such as Harry’s polo matches, also attended by his father Prince Charles.

Prince Harry also became kept his mother Diana’s humanitarian legacy alive by committing to a cause that was close to her heart, The HALO Trust, a British charity organisation that works to clear landmines in countries like Angola.

Prince Harry has remained close to his brother Prince William throughout the years, here they both don bowler hats as they attend the Cavalry Old Comrades Association Annual Parade in Hyde Park, London in 2007.

Prince Harry getting cheeky with the local kids at the Lesotho Child Counselling Unit during a return visit in 2008.

William and Harry also love to stay a bit competitive.

The brothers are seen here playing polo together at a charity match.

Prince Harry and Prince William onstage in London during a memorial concert commemorating the 10th anniversary of the death of their mother, Princess Diana

Prince Harry jokes around with Kanye West who performed at the six-hour long commemorative concert extravaganza in memory of the Prince’s late mother Diana.

Prince William and Prince Harry both continue to carry on the charitable legacy left by their mother Diana.

After Chelsy, Harry soon developed a new love interest in Cressida Bonas in 2012.

Harry was first introduced to Cressida by his cousin Princess Eugenie. The young aristocrat is the granddaughter of Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe.

2012 was a big year for the royal family, as Prince Harry accompanied Pippa Middleton down the aisle at the royal wedding of their siblings.

2012 also marked the year that the Olympics came to the royals’ hometown of London. Here, Harry mucks around with Olympic champion, Jamaican runner Usain Bolt.

Harry in more recent days – looking dapper at his first attendance at the royal Ascot races.

Prince Harry still loves being competitive with his older brother – seen here at a recent cricket match played on palace grounds.

Harry has also recently been seen taking on a lot more public ambassadorial roles alongside his brother William. Seen here promoting this year’s Invictus Games with him and a baby (not George!) dressed in promotional material.

Prince Harry gets competitive with his brother again when the pair of them visited athletes at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Prince Harry showing off his awkward side while getting sporty at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

More sporty action at the recent Commonwealth Games.

After parting ways with Cressida Bonas earlier this year, Harry has most recently been linked to charity worker and former Miss Edinburgh Camilla Thurlowe – who works for the HALO trust – the same charity that Harry and his late mother Diana have championed.

As Harry approached his 30th birthday, there have been reports of a lavish bash being planned for him at Kensington Palace.

Although it may seem like Harry has matured a lot more recently, we’ll never tire of the cheeky Prince’s kookiest facial expressions!

Harry always seems keen to join in on the fun too – such as playing soccer with local kids at the recent Soccer World Cup in Brazil.

Harry also seems to genuinely enjoy the company of his brother William and his wife Duchess Catherine – here the three of them are seen cheering together at the recent Glasgow games.

One of Harry’s proudest recent moments took place at this year’s Invictus Games, which he was a proud patron of and at which he delivered an impassioned speech at the opening ceremony. The Games honour those that have served time in the military (like Harry) but who suffered long term injury – and so they compete together in paralympic style events.

One thing that we love about Harry though is: he’s still got that same cheeky spirit he had as a kid!

Related stories