Email
Prince Harry talks to members of the British Armed Forces Invictus team during the launch of the Invictus Games. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
There are three Prince Harrys. There is the army one: Captain Wales of the Blues and Royals, the Apache helicopter pilot with two tours of Afghanistan under his belt. There is the royal: an ambassador waving from balconies and walkabout veteran, currently fourth in line and "spare to the heir". Then there's the social Harry: pretty rich, very posh and immensely privileged.
At times the personas have got mixed up with calamitous results. "Too much army and not enough prince," he wryly acknowledged after mobile phone pictures surfaced of him naked at a booze-fuelled strip-billiards party in Las Vegas.
But as he approaches 30 on Monday, we no longer see him stumbling out of nightclubs. At least, if he is still stumbling, he is not doing it in front of photographers. The Harry we have seen instead is the champion of wounded service personnel and energy behind the Invictus Games for those physically and mentally scarred while serving Queen and country. The role, which draws on his military experience and royal pulling power, is among the biggest challenges he has faced.
For seven months, while on sabbatical from his army desk job, the Invictus Games has been his main focus. "He is on top of all the detail," said Sir Keith Mills, chairman of the games, which opened at the Olympic Park on Wednesday. He has attended meetings, or taken calls, almost every day. "He has opened his contacts book," said Mills, describing him as "a terrific team member".
But what he has really been able to bring to the table is to remind the other organisers, few of whom have experience of the military or the wounded, why they are doing this, and for whom they are doing it. "I can't imagine what it is like coming out of Afghanistan with your legs blown off. When you have experienced it close up as Prince Harry has, it has had a profound effect on him, no question," said Mills.
Recently, Harry wrote in the Sunday Times of being flown out of Kandahar in a military plane carrying the coffin of a Danish soldier, and "three of our own" in induced comas; "Young lads – much younger than me – wrapped in plastic and missing limbs with hundreds of tubes coming out of them." It was "something I never prepared myself for", he wrote. During two tours he saw "horrendous" sights, of children killed by roadside bombs, of soldiers hit by IEDs (improvised explosive devices).
"Only rarely will he talk about his own personal experiences," said Mills. But it is clear to those working with him that he has witnessed much. He has enormous empathy, they say.
Ed Parker, co-founder of Walking With the Wounded, has undertaken two physically arduous expeditions to the north and south poles with the prince and is struck by his honesty and ability to put people immediately at ease.
Prince Harry races to scramble his Apache helicopter at Camp Bastion. Photograph: Reuters
"In the evenings, he would pop into people's tents and join them for supper and a chat. I think he felt he wanted to get to know these people and understand more about them and their stories and their lives.
"He would stick his head in when you were eating, and say: 'Can I come in?' and bring his own supper and sit down and yarn with them." Many now counted him as a friend, added Parker, and still texted him.
"One of the American girls who has got very badly damaged hands, got frostbite in her fingers. She was very, very down. And without being asked by anyone, he specifically spent time with her, reassuring her.
"This was a girl who was also suffering from the mental impact of being injured and was quite vulnerable. He had just naturally gone over when no one was watching. There was no big deal, and he said: 'Look, you're going to be OK, the quack says it's all right, they are on the case.'
"I noticed a real difference in him as a man in the two-and-a-half years between the north pole and the south pole. He was a far more mature, considered individual, who I believe had a clearer idea of where he can make a difference. He understands that the position he is in, he can made a real difference to a huge number of people I think he is aware of that responsibility. I think it is quite a tough responsibility, but I very much get the feeling it is something he is going to embrace. He is going to make it something that he does."
On his 30th, Harry will gain control of the inheritance left in trust by his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, which is likely to have increased from £6.5m at the time of her death in 1997 to more than £10m after deductions.
Money is no problem, therefore. Finding a meaningful role, however, is. Hitherto, the military has afforded him a career, time away from the public eye and the opportunity to prove himself and muck in and be treated like anyone else. But at present he is a staff officer at HQ London District where, it is said, his role will be to help coordinate significant projects and commemorative events. In short, a desk job.
Royal commentator Joe Little, of Majesty magazine, said: "Harry is a do-er rather than a plodder behind a desk with a pen in his hand. I would hope once the Invictus Games are over, Harry will go back to a more active military role. If he can combine that for years to come with occasional royal duties, I think that would be a more than satisfactory compromise. I don't imagine that Harry wants to do full-time royal duties."
Mark Borkowski, a leading PR agent, believes Harry's staff need to be on their mettle. The days when youth afforded him a jack-the-lad, lovable rogue, defence against the more embarrassing incidents are nearing their sell-by date. The challenge now is "what his personal brand stands for, because there is a clock ticking on it".
"The turning point was the Las Vegas moment. The timing was right, to a certain extent. He was off duty, a boy of a certain age. And most people were thinking: 'What does a bloke of his age do,'" said Borkowski. Indeed, hundreds of troops posed semi-naked on Facebook in solidarity. "Public opinion went with him. There was a great deal of sympathy," he added. "But now we are waiting for his next script. At 30, when you are under such scrutiny, you had better have a plan B, or C, or D to walk in to."
Prince Harry with Earl Spencer, Prince William and Prince Charles at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/AP
Just weeks before Las Vegas, Harry had been representing his grandmother, the Queen, at the Olympics closing ceremony. This followed the success of his official tour to Jamaica to mark the diamond jubilee and where he managed to upstage Olympic 100m champion Usain Bolt, challenging him to a race then mimicking the famous Lightning Bolt pose.
"Harry was brilliant, really played a blinder. He was ahead of the game the whole way," said one observer. His ease in front of the cameras – he is particularly good with children – makes him PR gold as far as charities and causes are concerned.
But his unease in general with the media is evident.
On more than one occasion he has voiced his frustrations, and was dismayed when tabloid papers printed the Las Vegas pictures, taken when he was off duty, at a private party, shortly before his second tour to Afghanistan.
"The papers knew that I was going out to Afghanistan anyway, so the way I was treated from them I don't think is acceptable," he later complained.
The challenge for Harry, and other young royals, now is how to deal with social media. "The royal protection officers were looking for would-be assassins and terrorists. Now they are looking for people armed with a camera phone," said Borkowski. With Twitter, which Harry has said he "quite hates", and Facebook – which he once had an account for under the name Spike Wells (Spike is his nickname among friends) – people can monitor his movements around the clock. "And they do," said Little. "There is a huge appetite for Harry news, especially in north America." Which is why Little is confident of putting him on the September cover of Majesty, headlined "Superstar royal".
Prince Harry enacting the famous Lightning Bolt pose with Usain Bolt in Jamaica as part of the diamond jubilee tour. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
There is an obvious animosity towards the media – tabloids in particular. "And why wouldn't there be," said Little. "Going back to his childhood, the way his mother was treated, the flak that his family generally attracts from time to time. Wishful thinking that the media just concentrated on the public duties and ignored the personal aspects. Well, that is never going to happen."
Forests of news print have been devoted to his personal life, with the tabloids reporting he is single, having split up with Cressida Bonas, 25, an aspiring actor and his society girlfriend of two years. Newspaper diarists track his movements round London clubs – Tonteria in Chelsea, the latest of his friend Guy Pelly's raunchy nightclubs, is apparently the current favourite.
When he escapes, it is often to Africa, a continent he loves.
Cathy Ferrier heads the Sentebale charity Harry set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help vulnerable children in the small south African kingdom. Its name means "Forget-me-not", in memory of his late mother. He has regularly visited Lesotho, which is abjectly poor, since he was 19. "I think he finds it a place where he can be himself pretty much," said Ferrier. "The places we work in are fairly remote. There is not that glare where everybody knows him. The children only know him as the person who turns up. They have no other context, it's such a long way from their lives. They have no idea what his persona is outside of the person who keeps coming back, helping them painting walls and kicking a football about and doing practical things."
"He's got a very easy manner with children. They seem to like him. So he will wander along and one of the little ones will just hang on to him and he's perfectly happy."
"A lot of my staff in Lesotho have known him since he was a 19-year-old. They laugh about the boy who is now the man. He has grown up a huge amount in that time."
Ferrier remembers an occasion when Harry's empathy for the children struck her. It was at a school for about 80 visually impaired children. A large group had been lined up as Harry met local officials. "He just broke free from the officials, went over to the children, bent down and held the hands of every single child in the row. Talked to every single child. And I just thought, 'Wow'. Because that was an amazing instinct for what those children needed," she said.
The aim of the Invictus Games is to become an annual event for as long as they are needed. Mills believes Harry will continue to take a hands-on role . "I think and I hope he has learned a lot. And he has certainly enjoyed the whole process.
"I think he recognised right at the beginning if you are a member of the royal family and you put your name to something, then if it works well you will get a pat on the back.
Prince Harry meeting partially sighted children at a project supported by his charity Sentebale in Lesotho. The charity head says he has an easy manner with children. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty
"But if it doesn't work so well, your name is on the door. So he takes great responsibility for the fact he inspired this event and his name is absolutely on the door. And its success or otherwise will be judged with his name."
;