Prince Harry

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, KCVO, ADC, is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Born in St Mary's Hospital, London, Harry was educated at Wetherby School, Ludgrove School, and Eton College. He spent parts of his gap year in Australia and Lesotho, then underwent officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a cornet into the Blues and Royals, serving temporarily with his brother William and completed training as a troop leader. In 2007–2008, he served for over ten weeks in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan for a 20-week deployment in 2012–2013 with the Army Air Corps. In June 2015, he resigned from the army.

Harry launched the Invictus Games in 2014 and remains the patron of its foundation. He also gives patronage to several other organisations, including the HALO Trust and Walking With The Wounded. To encourage people to open up about their mental health issues, Harry, alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, initiated the mental health awareness campaign 'Heads Together' in April 2016.

In 2018, Harry was made Duke of Sussex prior to his wedding to American actress Meghan Markle. In January 2020, the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family and moved to the Duchess's native Southern California. In October 2020, they launched Archewell Inc., an American public organisation that focuses on non-profit activities and creative media ventures. They have two children, Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

Early life

Prince Harry was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, on 15 September 1984 at 4:20 pm as the second child of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. He was christened Henry Charles Albert David on 21 December 1984 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. Growing up, he was referred to as 'Harr'y by family, friends, and the public, as well as Kensington Palace. Diana wanted him and his elder brother, Prince William, to have a broader range of experiences and a better understanding of ordinary life than previous royal children. She took them to venues that ranged from Walt Disney World and McDonald's to AIDS clinics and homeless shelters. He began accompanying his parents on official visits at an early age; his first overseas tour was with his parents to Italy in 1985. He also travelled with his family to Canada in 1991 and 1998.

Harry's parents divorced in 1996. His mother died in a car crash in Paris the following year. Harry and William were staying with their father at Balmoral at the time, and the Prince of Wales told his sons about their mother's death. At his mother's funeral, Harry, then 12, accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather, and maternal uncle, Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, in walking behind the funeral cortège from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.

Education

Like his father and brother, Harry was educated at independent schools. He started at London's Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School. 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 Harry's grandfather, father, two uncles, and two cousins had attended. It did, however, see Harry follow in his older brother's footsteps and the Spencer family, as both Diana's father and brother attended Eton.

2222L

In June 2003, Harry completed his education at Eton with two A-Levels, achieving a grade B in art and D in geography, having decided to drop history of art after AS level. He has been described as 'a top tier athlete', having played competitive polo and rugby union. 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. Both Eton and Harry denied the claims. 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.' 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.

After school, Harry took a gap year, during which he spent time in Australia working on a cattle station, and participating in the Young England vs Young Australia Polo Test match. He also travelled to Lesotho, where he worked with orphaned children and produced the documentary film The Forgotten Kingdom.

Wealth and inheritance At the time of the announcement of Harry and Meghan's decision to 'step back' as senior members of the royal family in 2020, 95% of the couple's income derived from the £2.3 million given to them annually by Harry's father, Charles, as part of his income from the Duchy of Cornwall.

Harry and his brother William inherited the 'bulk' of the £12.9 million left by their mother on their respective 30th birthdays, a figure that had grown since her 1997 death to £10 million each in 2014. In 2002 The Times reported that Harry would also share with his brother a payment of £4.9 million from trust funds established by their great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on their respective 21st birthdays and would share a payment of £8 million upon their respective 40th birthdays. Harry's personal wealth was estimated at £30 million by The Daily Telegraph in 2020.

In 2014, Harry and William inherited their mother's wedding dress along with many other of her personal possessions, including dresses, diamond tiaras, jewels, letters, and paintings. The brothers also received the original lyrics and score of 'Candle in the Wind' by Bernie Taupin and Elton John as performed by John at Diana's funeral.

Health In 2017, Harry acknowledged that he sought counselling twenty years after his mother's death. He added that he struggled with aggression, suffered from anxiety during royal engagements, and was 'very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions'. In his mental health television documentary The Me You Can't See, which premiered in 2021, he added that he underwent four years of therapy to address his mental health issues. He also mentioned that he suffered from 'panic attacks severe anxiet'y in his late 20s and the heavy load of official visits and functions eventually 'led to burnout'. He further stated that he was willing to drink and take drugs, adding that he 'wasn't drinking Monday to Friday, but would probably drink a week's worth in one day on a Friday or a Saturday night' to help him cope with his issues.

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.' Davy, who is a businesswoman and lawyer, was present when Harry received his Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan and also attended his graduation ceremony when he received his flying wings from his father. In early 2009, it was reported the pair had parted ways after a relationship that had lasted for five years.

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. On 30 April 2014, it was reported that the couple had parted amicably.

Marriage and fatherhood

In July 2016, Prince Harry began a relationship with American actress Meghan Markle. In November, the prince directed his communications secretary to release a statement on his behalf to express personal concern about pejorative and false comments made about his girlfriend by mainstream media and Internet trolls. In September 2017, Prince Harry and Markle first appeared together in public at the Invictus Games in Toronto. Their engagement was announced on 27 November 2017 by Harry's father Prince Charles. The announcement prompted generally positive comments about having a mixed-race person as a member of the royal family, especially in regard to Commonwealth countries with populations of blended or native ancestry. On 19 May 2018, the marriage ceremony was held at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The couple has since revealed in the 2021 Oprah TV interview that there was a private exchange of vows 3 days before with the Archbishop of Canterbury in their garden. However, this earlier exchange of vows was not an official religious or legally recognised marriage. The Archbishop of Canterbury told la Repubblica 'The legal wedding was on the Saturday. I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false.'

The Duke and Duchess initially lived at Nottingham Cottage in London, on the grounds of Kensington Palace. They then moved to Frogmore Cottage in the Home Park of Windsor Castle. The Crown Estate refurbished the cottage at a cost of £2.4 million, paid out of the Sovereign Grant, with the Duke later reimbursing expenses beyond restoration and ordinary maintenance. On 6 May 2019, the Duke and Duchess's son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor was born. Their office was moved to Buckingham Palace and officially closed on 31 March 2020 when the Sussexes ceased 'undertaking official engagements in support of the Queen'. After some months in Canada and the United States, the couple bought a house in June 2020 on the former estate of Riven Rock in Montecito, California. The next month, the Duchess suffered a miscarriage. On 4 June 2021, their daughter Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor was born.

Harry is godfather to 'five or six' children, including the daughters of Major Nicholas van Cutsem, the son of Hugh van Cutsem, and Jake Warren, his mother's godson, whose father is the Queen's horse racing manager. He became godfather to Charlie van Straubenzee's firstborn daughter in May 2020.

Wealth and inheritance

At the time of the announcement of Harry and Meghan's decision to 'step back' as senior members of the royal family in 2020, 95% of the couple's income derived from the £2.3 million given to them annually by Harry's father, Charles, as part of his income from the Duchy of Cornwall.

Harry and his brother William inherited the 'bulk' of the £12.9 million left by their mother on their respective 30th birthdays, a figure that had grown since her 1997 death to £10 million each in 2014. In 2002 The Times reported that Harry would also share with his brother a payment of £4.9 million from trust funds established by their great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on their respective 21st birthdays and would share a payment of £8 million upon their respective 40th birthdays. Harry's personal wealth was estimated at £30 million by The Daily Telegraph in 2020.

In 2014, Harry and William inherited their mother's wedding dress along with many other of her personal possessions, including dresses, diamond tiaras, jewels, letters, and paintings. The brothers also received the original lyrics and score of 'Candle in the Wind' by Bernie Taupin and Elton John as performed by John at Diana's funeral.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is an American member of the British royal family and a former actress.

Markle was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her acting career began while at Northwestern University. She attributed early career difficulties to her biracial heredity. Her last and most significant on-screen role was that of Rachel Zane for seven seasons in the American TV legal drama Suits. She also developed a social media presence. This included The Tig lifestyle blog which garnered recognition for her fashion sense and led to the creation and release of two clothing lines in 2015–2016. During The Tig period, Markle became involved in charity work focused primarily on women's issues and social justice.

Markle was married to American film producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 until their divorce in 2013. She retired from acting upon her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018 and became known as the Duchess of Sussex. The marriage prompted favorable comments about having a mixed-race person in the royal family. Nevertheless, the couple stepped down as senior members in 2020 due to personal privacy issues and perceived hostile media treatment, particularly by the British tabloids. They subsequently settled in her native California to pursue business ventures and charity work. They have two children, Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

3333R

Early life and education

Rachel Meghan Markle was born August 4, 1981, in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, and identifies as being mixed-race. Her parents divorced when she was six years old. Markle's white American father, Thomas Markle Sr., worked as a director of photography and lighting for Married... with Children, and Meghan frequently visited the set of the television series as a child, but she is now estranged from her father and paternal half-siblings, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr. She has a close relationship with her African American mother, Doria Ragland.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Markle attended Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse. At age 11, she wrote to Procter & Gamble to gender-neutralize a dishwashing soap commercial on national television. Three months later, P&G changed the commercial. She was raised as a Protestant, but she graduated from L.A.'s Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girl Catholic school. In 1999, Markle was admitted to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. After her junior year, she interned at the American embassy in Buenos Aires and considered a political career. However, she did not score high enough in the Foreign Service Officer Test to proceed further with the US State Department, and returned to NU. She also attended a study abroad program in Madrid. In 2003, Markle earned her bachelor's degree with a double major in theater and international studies from Northwestern's School of Communication.

Acting career

According to Markle, she had some difficulty getting roles early in her career due to being 'ethnically ambiguous' because 'I wasn't black enough for the black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones.' To support herself between acting jobs, she worked as a freelance calligrapher and taught bookbinding. Her first on-screen appearance was a small role as a nurse in an episode of the daytime soap opera General Hospital. Markle had small guest roles on the television shows Century City, The War at Home and CSI: NY. She also did several contract acting and modeling jobs, including a stint as a 'briefcase girl' on the US-version of the game show Deal or No Deal. She appeared in Fox's series Fringe as Junior Agent Amy Jessup in the first two episodes of its second season.

Markle appeared in small roles in the films Get Him to the Greek, Remember Me and The Candidate in 2010 and the film Horrible Bosses in 2011. She was paid $187,000 for her role in Remember Me and $171,429 for her role in the short film The Candidate. In July 2011, she joined the cast of the USA Network show Suits through to late 2017 and the seventh season. Her character, Rachel Zane, began as a paralegal and eventually became an attorney. While working on Suits, she lived for nine months each year in Toronto. Fortune magazine estimated that she was paid $50,000 per episode, amounting to an equivalent annual salary of $450,000.

Personal life

Markle and American film producer Trevor Engelson began dating in 2004. They were married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on September 10, 2011 and concluded a no-fault divorce in August 2013, citing irreconcilable differences. Markle's subsequent relationship with Canadian celebrity chef and restaurateur Cory Vitiello ended in May 2016 after almost two years.

In July 2016, Markle began a relationship with Prince Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. In November, the prince directed his communications secretary to release a statement on his behalf to express personal concern about pejorative and false comments made about his girlfriend by mainstream media and internet trolls. In September 2017, Markle and Prince Harry first appeared together in public in Toronto at the Invictus Games, of which Harry is founding patron.

Marriage to Prince Harry

Further information: Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Wedding dress of Meghan Markle Meghan Markle's engagement to Prince Harry was announced on November 27, 2017, by Harry's father Charles, Prince of Wales. The announcement prompted generally positive comments about having a mixed-race person as a member of the royal family, especially in regard to Commonwealth countries with populations of blended or native ancestry. Markle announced that she would retire from acting, and began the lengthy process of becoming a British citizen, which is subject to strict immigration rules about living outside of the UK for more than 90 days.

In preparation for the wedding, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, baptized Markle and confirmed her into the Church of England on March 6, 2018. The private ceremony, performed with water from the River Jordan, took place in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. The marriage ceremony was held on May 19 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Her wedding dress was designed by the British designer Clare Waight Keller. Markle later revealed in the 2021 television interview Oprah with Meghan and Harry that there was a private exchange of vows three days before with the Archbishop of Canterbury in the couple's garden. However, this private exchange of vows was not an official legally recognised marriage.

It was reportedly agreed in advance that excess funds generated from the BBC broadcast of the wedding ceremony would go to a charity chosen by the newlywed couple. In April 2020, Feeding Britain was nominated to receive £90,000 from the BBC.

After the wedding, the Duke and Duchess lived at Nottingham Cottage within the grounds of Kensington Palace in London. They later moved to Frogmore Cottage in the Home Park of Windsor Castle. Meghan gave birth to a son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, on May 6, 2019. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's office moved to Buckingham Palace and officially closed on March 31, 2020, when the Sussexes withdrew from undertaking official royal engagements. After some months in Canada and the United States, the couple bought a house in June 2020 on the former estate of Riven Rock in Montecito, California. The next month, Meghan suffered a miscarriage. She gave birth to a daughter, Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, on June 4, 2021.

Political views

Members of the British royal family are politically neutral by convention. However, Markle was politically vocal before marrying Prince Harry. She backed Hillary Clinton during the 2016 United States presidential election and publicly denounced the opponent and eventual winner, Donald Trump. The same year, when the referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union resulted in favor of Brexit, Markle expressed her disappointment on Instagram. In 2017, Markle recommended the book Who Rules the World? by left-wing intellectual Noam Chomsky on her Instagram account. As an eligible voter in the United States, she released a video with her husband encouraging others to register for the 2020 United States presidential election on National Voter Registration Day. Some media outlets took it as an implicit endorsement of the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, which prompted then-President Trump to dismiss their messaging at a press conference.

Harry and Meghan say they're 'stepping back' from the royal family. The palace says it's 'complicated'

In January 2020, the Duke and Duchess announced that they were stepping back from their role as senior members of the royal family, and would balance their time between the United Kingdom and North America. A statement released by the Palace confirmed that the Duke and Duchess were to become financially independent and cease to represent the Queen. The couple retain their HRH stylings but are not permitted to use them.

The formal role of the Duke and Duchess was subject to a twelve-month review period, ending in March 2021. In March 2020, Harry attended the opening of the Silverstone Experience in Silverstone Circuit together with racing driver Lewis Hamilton. Harry's appearance at the museum was his final solo engagement as a senior royal before he and his wife officially stepped down on 31 March.

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, say they are stepping back from their roles as senior members of the British royal family and plan to work towards becoming "financially independent," the couple announced on Wednesday.

"After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year" they wrote on Instagram, explaining that they hope to "carve out a progressive new role within this institution."

"We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen," they said.

Harry and Meghan did not consult any other members of the royal family about their decision, CNN has learned.

There is said to be a mood of deep disappointment in the palace following the announcement; senior members of the family are hurt as a result of the news.

Couple keen for private life

In a statement issued just hours after the couple's Instagram post, Buckingham Palace said the situation was "complicated."

"Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage," the unsigned Royal Communications statement said. "We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through."

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said it would "take time" to resolve the issue.

The Duke and Duchess did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

The announcement could indicate that the couple will now have the private life they've always argued for.

They are opting out of the system but they'll be able to opt in to the elements that they like: the family elements and those where they're seen to be supporting the Queen, who they're both very close to.

In their social media post, the couple revealed they plan to split their time between the UK and North America.

"This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity," they wrote.

"We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support."

The Duke and Duchess have long had a fraught relationship with sections of the British media. In October last year, the couple announced that Meghan was suing the Mail on Sunday newspaper, alleging it had illegally published a private letter to her father -- a claim the newspaper denies.

At the same time, Harry launched an emotional attack on the UK tabloid press for what he called a "ruthless campaign" against his wife.

He likened their treatment of her to that faced by his mother. Princess Diana died in 1997 when her car crashed as it was being pursued by members of the paparazzi.

The couple will feel that they can win these court cases on the basis that they do have a right to a private life.

Members of the royal family are often criticized for not allowing enough public access, given that they are publicly funded, and now the Duke and Duchess are effectively saying, "Okay, you win, we're out."

The Sussexes' decision to step back from leading roles within the royal family means they will "no longer participate in the Royal Rota system," which gives UK broadcasters and newspapers access to royal engagements, according to the official SussexRoyal website.