...For September 2004
September 30, 2005 -PRINCE Harry has decided to be a frontline soldier in the tough Welsh Guards. His first Army posting would be leading 30 squaddies on a tense peacekeeping mission in war-torn Bosnia. The 21-year-old prince could be SHOT at from rival ethnic groups during the six-month NATO mission. A senior military source said last night: “Harry sees a tough infantry unit as the best way to prove himself. “It is about the most dangerous place you can be in the Army.” Harry will be referred to as “boss” by his men. MoD chiefs will meet palace officials soon to decide if the third in line to the throne should be so close to danger. But Harry is determined to dump his initial choice for a regiment — the scandal-ridden Household Cavalry. He recently said: “I’ve got hooked on the infantry bug.” He added: “I do enjoy running down a ditch full of mud, firing bullets.” Harry visited the Welsh Guards’ barracks in St Athan, South Wales, six weeks ago. It is less than an hour’s drive from his home at Highgrove, Gloucs. Harry’s dad Prince Charles is honorary chief of the regiment and was appointed an honorary colonel. And it is believed to be the favoured choice for older brother William, 23, when he finishes his officer training. Harry must formally make his choice at Sandhurst in January. Regimental top brass will then interview him before making a decision.
September 21, 2005 -
PRINCE William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton are to step out together at an official public occasion for the first time. They are planning to "come out" as a couple after becoming frustrated with the secrecy surrounding their relationship. The move will finally make Kate and William an accepted item in the royal household and is the next step on the way to a possible engagement. A Clarence House insider said last night: "William has grown weary of the cloak-and-dagger operation surrounding his girlfriend. "He wants her to be acknowledged as an important part of his life. He is planning to appear in public with her as a statement of intent and commitment to her. He has lost patience with his girlfriend being kept hidden, as if the family is ashamed of her. "William is very much in love with Kate and he does not understand why this should be a secret." Aides so far refuse to admit publicly that 23-year-old Kate is even William's girlfriend. But the prince - also 23 - wants her to be given the royal stamp of approval and has introduced her to the Queen. One possible outing would be a visit to the charity Centrepoint, of which William was recently made patron. A joint appearance meeting London's homeless would make William and Kate appear in a sympathetic role. The insider added: "It is a question of choosing the right kind of occasion. "It would preferably be a fairly low-key event where the couple can be themselves." - PRINCE Charles is giving a rare interview on US news show 60 minutes to pave the way for his November tour to America with Camilla.
By David Brown And Dean Rousewell
People
RACY Prince Harry looks as cool as Steve McQueen as he leans on his powerful motorbike.
With dirt streaking his face and ruggedly wearing a T-shirt, the sandy-haired royal rebel bears an uncanny resemblance to the movie star in The Great Escape.
Action-man Harry is the proud owner of a Yamaha 125.
But he borrowed brother William's bike to help spark memories of the late actor's famous scramble for freedom along the Swiss border in the 1963 war movie.
The picture was taken at Prince Charles' organic Home Farm in Gloucestershire by Harry's favourite snapper Mario Testino to mark his 21st birthday last Thursday.And one of Testino's assistant's smeared dirt on his forehead and chin to add the finishing touches.
Harry said: "We had this idea...for me to be who I am."
"Well to a certain extent rather than turn up in scruffy clothes. He asked me to go on my motorbike.
"This one was actually William's one.
"Mine's a Yamaha 125. It's something that we bomb around the fields on - it's a way of shaking the cobwebs out."
Meanwhile Charles has ordered Royal Protection officers to keep a curb on arrangements for Harry's birthday bash at a trendy London club next month.
Earlier this year Harry apologised after he was spotted a Nazi costume to a fancy dress party. Good to see that you're on the right side now Harry.
September 16, 2005 -
Prince Harry, 21 today, has marked his birthday with his first public comments on his girlfriend, his father's new wife and that infamous Nazi costume gaffe. Speaking to Sky News, the third in line to the throne also defended Prince Charles, saying media criticism of his father left the whole family "irritated". His coments about Charles, William, Camilla and his girlfriend Chelsy Davy reveal a caring young man at odds with the cigarette smoking, beer-swilling image sometimes portrayed. On Camilla, he said: "She's a wonderful woman and she's made our father very, very happy, which is the most important thing. "William and I love her to bits. She's not the wicked stepmother, I'll say that right now." Harry said he wished he could write a newspaper column to hit back at all the allegations made about his life, and Chelsy. He was reluctant to talk about his South African girlfriend, but did say: "I would love to tell everyone how amazing she is, but that is my private life. I get upset to see how upset she gets and I know the real her. "I am hugely protective towards her. The media attention is part of my life and she understands that. It's something that comes with me, but the lies are not something that comes with me." Harry said his father had been left angry at constantly being criticised in his parental role, despite "trying to do his best the whole time". Perhaps his most affectionate words were left for William: "It's amazing how close we've become. I mean ever since our mother died, obviously we were close, but he's the one person I can talk to about everything. "Every year we get closer and have even resorted to hugging each other when we haven't seen each other for some time." And his Nazi costume incident, he said: "It was a very stupid thing to do and I've learnt my lesson, simple as that really. I'm very sorry if I offended anybody."
Prince Harry talks about Army life, helping Aids orphans, unwelcome media attention and an 'amazing' girlfriend HE HAS been called the spare to the heir, the Royal Family's first chav, and has been likened to Shakespeare's Prince Hal, a royal without a role, drifting from duty to dissipation. But, in a punchy and wide-ranging interview to mark his 21st birthday today, Prince Harry sets out to demonstrate that there is more to him than froth, frolics and funny fags. The Sandhurst cadet and third in line to the throne is probably the first member of his family to declare in so many words that he does not intend to "sit on my arse back home". Although others have fretted that his life has neither shape nor purpose, the Prince insists that he is serious about an Army career and his charity work among Aids victims in Lesotho, although he is uncertain which will take long-term precedence. On a more personal level, he denies absolutely that the Duchess of Cornwall is the wicked stepmother, apologises for the embarrassing incident of the Nazi armband, and describes his girlfriend, the Zimbabwean-born Chelsy Davy, with whom he recently enjoyed a houseboat holiday in Botswana, as "amazing". Paddy Harverson, the Clarence House communications director, will breathe a sigh of relief that a combination of his own advice and the harsh regime of officer training have persuaded the Prince, long regarded as a loose cannon in the face of media attention, to display at last the green shoots of maturity. His birthday brings with it a role of responsibility. He joins the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, Prince William and the Duke of York as Counsellor of State, two of whom stand in for the Queen at Privy Council meetings when she is abroad or unwell. But there is no sudden Damascene conversion to adulthood. Harry defends himself for being both a party prince and a caring prince. "I am who I am. I'm not going to change," he says, adding that although he has grown up, he still has a childish streak. His father knows that all too well. The Prince of Wales has decreed that there will be no wild birthday bash at Highgrove, lest tomorrow's tabloids be splashed with pictures of hoorayish behaviour. Harry will spend today deep in study at Sandhurst, although his grandmother has promised him a celebration at Windsor later in the year. Wearing a crumpled blue and white shirt, green khaki trousers, six metal bangles on his right wrist and a leather band on his left, Harry spoke to the Press Association, BBC Radio and Sky News at his father's Highgrove home. On his initial Sandhurst training, Harry describes being shouted at by regimental sergeant majors and treated like a piece of dirt. "I know that I've been treated equally. If not, in a couple of cases maybe slightly differently in the sense that `He is who he is, let's treat him even worse to make him feel really where he's at'. It did me good." Despite speculation that he hoped to graduate into a cavalry regiment, Harry says that he now favours the infantry. "I do enjoy running down a ditch full of mud, firing bullets. It's the way I am. I love it." He adds: "I've seen the way the Army changes people, mostly for the good and also for the bad as well — you know the typical Army officer. I want to be an Army officer and do the job, but at the same time I don't want to change that much." If called to active service, he would not wish to be left behind because of who he is. "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country." He is more circumspect about foreign travel as a member of the Royal Family, possibly alluding to the bills that his uncle, the Duke of York, runs up as a roving trade ambassador. "Where I can see myself is doing as much as I can in the position that I`ve got. I'm not going to be some person in the Royal Family who just finds a lame excuse to go abroad and do all sorts of sunny holidays and whatever. I mean, I'll do the best I can. Yes, Lesotho will probably play a very major part in that." Harry offers a stout defence of the Duchess of Cornwall, saying that he and his brother Prince William "love her to bits". He says: "To be honest with you, she's always been very close to me and William. But no, she's not the wicked stepmother. I'll say that right now. Everyone has to understand that it's very hard for her. Look at the position she's coming into. Don't always feel sorry for me and William — feel sorry for her." The Prince adds: "She's a wonderful woman and she's made our father very, very happy, which is the most important thing." His father, he says, is "much more relaxed now". He speaks of the challenge of conveying his true self to the public. "I'm never going to get people, never convince the general public of who I am or what I want them to think I am, because my image is always being portrayed as something else. I don't want to change. I am who I am. I'm not going to change because I'm being criticised in the press." He adds: "Yeah, I've grown up — everyone's got to grow up. But there's something inside me. I'm always going to have that little sort of — how do you say? — child streak. It's something that I'd like to keep. I've got friends of mine saying before I went to Sandhurst, `Don't change, don't change, don't change'. Well, I'm not going to. I'd prefer to stay the same, if that 's all right with everybody." Harry's determination to help Aids orphans in Lesotho, which he visited during his gap year, underlines his desire to carry on the work his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was unable to finish. "I believe I can fulfil that. I would not have said it otherwise." Told that he had his mother's way with children, Harry says: "I'm a little bit over-sensitive sometimes." Referring to media criticism of his father after the Princess's death, Harry says: "There's a lot of stuff that obviously irritates me and my brother and my father most as well, as he is someone who tries to do his best the whole time, but always is being continually criticised for all sorts. You can't really deal with it. There is no way of dealing with it. You just hope that the next day it isn't in the papers, whereas when my mother died it was in the papers for whatever it was — 16 weeks solid." Prince William, Harry says, is the one person to whom he can talk about everything. The brothers, always close, became even more so after the death of their mother in 1997. The Prince expresses regret for one of his most notorious pranks, when newspapers printed pictures of him arriving at a friend's fancy dress party in the uniform of Rommel Afrika Korps, complete with swastika armband. The incident was magnified by occurring before the 60th anniversary commemorations for Auschwitz concentration camp. "Looking back on it now, and at the time as well, it was a very stupid thing to do and I've learnt my lesson — simple as that, really. Maybe it was a sign of my own immaturity. That was then, this is now. I am becoming 21. Something like that I will never do again. It was a stupid thing to do. I think it's part of growing up." Despite often adverse coverage, Harry confesses that he still reads the papers and would like his own newspaper column "to set the record straight and get the truth across". Media attention is the one fly in the ointment of his relationship with Chelsy, the 19-year-old daughter of a safari operator who has strenuously denied links with Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe. He describes her as "very special" and "amazing", but declines to elaborate, except to say that she gets very upset by what is written about her. "It's part of the baggage that comes with me, and she understands that, and my friends understand that as well."
Harry insisted his father Prince Charles's new wife Camilla was not "a wicked stepmother" and said his older brother William was his closest confidant. Britain's Prince Harry, who turned 21 on Thursday, said he wanted to fight for his country as a frontline soldier but would never hide his passion for partying. Harry, whose mother Princess Diana died in a car crash when he was 12, insisted his father Prince Charles's new wife Camilla was not "a wicked stepmother" and said his older brother William was his closest confidant. The third in line to the throne, training for an army career at Sandhurst military academy, said he would probably mark his 21st birthday on manoeuvres "in a ditch in the middle of Wales". Harry, youngest son of heir to the throne Prince Charles, said he then wanted to put his training into practice. "There is no way I am going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country," said the flame-haired prince in a string of interviews to mark his birthday. The prince, dubbed a royal "wild child" and playboy prince for his under-age drinking and drug antics, said he would always have a compassionate side -- as he did when working in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho with young AIDS victims. He said he could be a caring prince and a party prince. "I am both of them. Does everyone expect me to be just the caring person and not to have a cigarette, not to have a beer? I am who I am. I am not going to change," he said. Nazi outrage In January, Harry sparked international outrage after he wore a Nazi uniform to a costume party two weeks before his grandmother Queen Elizabeth led Holocaust memorial ceremonies. A picture of him in Nazi regalia was taken at a private house party and published in newspapers around the world. "It was a very stupid thing to do and I've learnt my lesson. Maybe it was a sign of my own immaturity. That was then, this is now. I am becoming 21 -- something like that I will never do again," said Harry. After a 35-year affair, Harry's father Prince Charles in April married Camilla Parker Bowles, who Diana always blamed for the break- up of her marriage. Harry was quick to squash any rumours of bad blood with Camilla, nicknamed The Rottweiler by Diana. "To be honest with you, she's always been very close to me and William. But no, she's not the wicked stepmother," he said. "Everyone has to understand that it's very hard for her. Look at the position she's coming into. Don't always feel sorry for me and William, feel sorry for her." Harry, who won worldwide sympathy as a forlorn boy-walking head bowed behind his mother's coffin, is irked by media attention and says reading stories about Diana still hurts. "When my mother died, it was in the papers for whatever it was -- 16 weeks solid." His glamorous mother was the world's most photographed woman whose life was constantly under the glare of the media. Harry, ever wary of paparazzi hounding him, was fiercely protective of his Zimbabwean girlfriend Chelsy Davy, saying firmly: "That is my private life."
September 13, 2005 -
Prince William has chosen a young people's homelessness charity as the first to which he will be a patron. The 23-year-old will be following in the footsteps of his mother, who became a patron to the charity in 1992. Clarence House said William had spent the past two days working as a volunteer at Centrepoint. He said he was "deeply concerned" for people, especially the young, "who find themselves living on the streets or without a proper home". 'Social exclusion' Prince William said he was delighted to accept the organisation's invitation. He is the same age as many of the young people we support and he gets on so well with them Anthony Lawton - Centrepoint During his volunteer work he spoke with homeless people about their situation, helped them review their personal development plans and to sort out housing benefit claims and find more permanent accommodation. "Charities like Centrepoint do such an amazing job in helping to combat homelessness and social exclusion and I just wanted to lend my support to their remarkable efforts," he said. Centrepoint chief executive Anthony Lawton said it was "wonderful" that William had decided to support them. "He is the same age as many of the young people we support and he gets on so well with them," said Mr Lawton. "I know that all the young people he was worked with over the last few days will think this is fantastic news." Mountain rescue Centrepoint was one of a number of organisations to which Princess Diana was a patron She took Prince William to visit homelessness charities in London when he was a child and two years ago he visited a project in Newport, Wales, with Prince Charles. Clarence House said William's work experience at Centrepoint would be followed by other placements previously announced, including those with a mountain rescue team, financial institutions and in land management. In the long term he is expected to follow a career in the military. His role as patron of Centrepoint will be reviewed every five years, as will any other patronages.
Dubbed the Party Prince for his love of the high life, he has scuffled with a paparazzi photographer, dabbled with cannabis and sparked worldwide outrage by dressing as a Nazi. The other side of Harry, who unlike big brother William is free of the weighty responsibility of one day having to be king, is markedly different. A sensitive soul, the youngest son of the Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, remains intent on making his late mother proud, pledging to carry on her work with Aids victims. "She had more guts than anybody else. I want to carry on the things she didn't quite finish. I have always wanted to, but was too young," he said at the age of 18. One member of the Highgrove staff recalled: "Harry is fearless. He is so laid back that very little seems to worry him." Harry was only 12 when his mother died suddenly in a car crash with lover Dodi Fayed. Etched in the public's memory of the funeral is the image of the young prince, dwarfed by his brother, father, uncle and grandfather, walking behind the horse-drawn carriage transporting Diana's coffin through the streets. Now, eight years on, Harry is well into adulthood, in training at Sandhurst and on his way to becoming an Army officer. When he was younger, his Kensington Palace bedroom was filled with military souvenirs and the walls were decorated with pictures of tanks and helicopters. An accomplished sportsman, he excels at polo and skiing and is an avid rugby and football fan. Harry's dislike of the press is not surprising - his mother was being followed by paparazzi when her car crashed in the Pont d'Alma tunnel in the fatal accident of 1997. Harry generates the same intense media interest as William, but does not have the defined role that falls to the first born. He will be 21 on Thursday.
September 11, 2005 -
PRINCE Charles has had a furious bust-up with son Harry after banning him from having a wild 21st birthday party.
He fears the tearaway prince could get DRUNK and DISGRACE himself - and even be kicked out of the Army if he acts like a Bad Lad.
Fun-loving Harry, who turns 21 on Thursday, has been begging his dad for a huge bash at a London nightclub.
But Charles is aware that Harry's previous antics at trendy West End nightspots have landed him in hot water.
A highly-placed aide told The People: "Charles has really put his foot down over this and Harry isn't happy at all. His brother William had a huge party at Windsor Castle for his 21st and Harry wants a full-blown celebration too.
"He accepts he can't have a party on his birthday next Thursday because he'll be on Army exercises at Sandhurst.
"But he wants to let his hair down when he gets his first weekend break in October."
Harry is said to be keen on trendy Boujis in South Kensington or Purple in Chelsea as his party venue.
But Charles was furious at-year-old girlfriend Chelsy Davy and friends in Botswana.
The headlines which followed Harry's dance with topless model Lauren Pope, 20 at another fashionable club, Chinawhite in Mayfair.
And the young Prince was accused of lashing out at a photographer after leaving Pangaea in Piccadilly last October.
Our source said: "His father is acutely aware that if Harry gets publicly drunk again it could be seen that he is bringing the army into disrepute and jeopardise his career - or even get him kicked out.
"So Charles wants to wrap him in cotton wool until his training is finished. And that means no wild parties."
Harry is due to return to Sandhurst today after enjoying a water safari break with his 19The source said: "Charles's view is that his break in Botswana - away from prying eyes - was effectively his 21st birthday celebration, albeit a little early.
"He had all the booze, cigarettes and loud music he wanted. So Charles now wants him to knuckle down and make the most of Sandhurst.
"He knows how damaging publicity about drug-taking, drinking and punching photographers has been to his son.
"And he wants him to prove to his army bosses that he has matured and become less wayward and more responsible.
"Harry quite understands that he can't go wild while he is in the middle of his training. The next three weeks will be particularly intensive.
"But he sees no reason why he shouldn't be allowed a belated celebration in October."
The source said: "Charles is aware that there are some unpleasant people who would take a sneaking delight in seeing his son fail at Sandhurst.
"But the reality is that Harry has got off to an excellent start there and Charles doesn't want him to ruin the good work he has put in through one night of mayhem."
PRINCE Harry is set to receive one-on-one tutoring as he faces a series of tough academic tests at Sandhurst. Senior officers are concerned he will fail exams in international relations and be forced to take the whole course again. Harry struggled to get good grades at A-level despite taking only two subjects. He got a D in geography and a B in art. Last night a senior Army source said: "The course is pretty tough so the worry is that Harry may struggle. It is fair to say he will be getting some fairly intensive individual attention if he shows any signs of not being able to cope. "There is no question of any officer or instructor at Sandhurst allowing Harry to flunk the tests. They will get him through by hook or by crook." An MoD source said: "It is fair to say there is a higher academic content in the second term of training."
HE HAS partied long and hard, taking in a fight with a photographer and an unfortunate choice of fancy dress along the way. But, if royal sources are to be believed, Prince Harry has finally grown up. Harry's 21st birthday this Thursday will be a deliberately low-key, sober affair. And while a uniform is to feature, thankfully, it will be that of a Sandhurst officer cadet. Palace insiders say Charles has insisted that one of the most important birthdays of his second son's life must stay out of the headlines. If the plan works, there will be no images of Hooray Henries, outlandish hedonism or general drunkeness in the tabloids on Friday morning. Instead, the prince is expected to have a quiet drink of his father's own-label Highgrove wine with a handful of close friends and his South African girlfriend Chelsy Davy. But while the celebrations are due to be muted, it is understood the gifts will be lavish. Insiders say Davy has splashed out on a luxury watch and photo-shoot with one of the world's top photographers for her royal boyfriend. An aide told Scotland on Sunday: "Harry has grown up a lot in the last year. I think Sandhurst and the Nazi uniform blunder have really matured him." The source added: "Harry is a really honest soul who does give things his best shot. But he is also very sensitive. He has been hurt by some of the negative media coverage of his past." Over-indulging on his 21st is not an attractive option. Harry will be required to put in a full day's work at Sandhurst on Thursday and Friday. The prince is said to be finding the process of becoming a professional soldier both mentally and physically exhausting, and a hangover would only add to the misery. The 'real' birthday celebrations are likely to have taken place yesterday at the wedding in Henley-on-Thames of Harry's stepbrother, Tom Parker Bowles. An insider said: "It made more sense to double up. Many of the royals were at the wedding anyway." Author and royal watcher Roddy Martine said that in recent years the Royal Family had learned from previous media mistakes and would want this celebration to pass with as little fuss as possible. Martine said: "They have been very successful in recent years in managing their publicity despite a few very public mistakes. They will be keen not to repeat that with Prince Harry this year. "But, of course, one has to remember that Prince Harry is now very much part of the army and therefore he has to behave responsibly when the world is watching. "But like most army officers, I imagine, out of the spotlight he will let his hair down." Davy is believed to have bought the prince a £5,000 Rolex Yachtmaster watch for his birthday and has also ordered a surprise photo-shoot with Princess Diana's favourite photographer, Mario Testino. According to sources, she wants a portrait of herself and Harry. The pair have just spent a break in Botswana's Okavango Delta with a group of friends. "There was lots of partying then. Harry was playing tambourine, with his pals playing guitars and lots of singalongs around the barbecue," said an insider. Presents from Prince Charles and Prince William have been kept under wraps at this stage. But one insider said polo-mad Harry may get a new pony from his father. Although the birthday is being kept low-key, a coin featuring Prince Harry is to be issued by the Royal Mint in official recognition of the occasion. A portrait of the prince in a sweater and open-necked shirt features on the reverse of the commemorative £5 coin, which also displays his coat of arms. But despite the careful management, Harry's birthday has not escaped controversy. In what has been perceived as a snub to the terrestrial broadcasters, in particular the BBC, which has previously conducted royal interviews, the prince agreed to be interviewed by Sky News to mark the milestone.
There Are moments of reckoning in everyone's life, and for Prince Harry the past year has provided more than enough of them. Take, for example, his father's marriage in April to the woman his mother, whose loss still haunts him, had taught him to call 'the rottweiler'.
Or the very public pillorying he received after turning up to a fancy dress party wearing a swastika armband. Or the trial by fire of his first weeks at Sandhurst. Or the storm over the teacher accused of helping him cheat in his art A-level.
But no test has been more severe than the growing realisation that he, and he alone, is responsible for finding a suitable way to fill the rest of his life. Harry fears he might not be up to it.
It is also beginning to upset him that he is seen by many as the black sheep of the family.
"There has been a real change in Harry in the past year," says one royal observer. "People think of him as a hardened partygoer - if you like, the first chav member of the Royal family, who is never seen without a fag in one hand and a beer can in the other. To a large extent, that is still true. But he is not the carefree, devil- may-care kid he used to be."
Noticeable changes in Harry
Next week, Harry will be 21 and it is partly this milestone, coming- of-age birthday that has prompted a noticeable change in this young man.
He will give a TV interview and a new £5 coin has been struck to mark the occasion but there will be no lavish party like William's Out of Africa Ball.
The old, hell-raising prince would have liked nothing better than a wild party but the newly mature Harry has decided against it because "he just wants to keep his head down," according to a friend.
"He plans to have a small family dinner and go out for a few beers with friends but that's the extent of it. He feels that all eyes are upon him to slip up, and as he is at Sandhurst he would be better off celebrating it in a less obvious manner.
"For the first time in his life he has started to realise that his actions have consequences and that he will be held to account for them."
Of course, it can't be easy being the younger son of the Prince of Wales, but Harry's happy-go-lucky nature has always seemed a perfect fit for the role.
Now, however, having reached the stage where he is forced to contemplate life beyond the playful bubble of his lengthy gap year and gilded youth, Harry's adolescent exuberance is beginning to take on a more resilient and careful, watchful edge.
This new demeanour was much in evidence at the Cartier Polo this summer. Harry's usual style is to party with abandon, regardless of who might be watching - one year he was snapped cheerily giving a photographer 'the finger' and infamously got into a ruck with a snapper outside a London nightclub.
Party with abandon
At this event, by contrast, he slunk around, emerging from the marquees by stealth, crawling under the tarpaulin to avoid the photographers, and eschewing the crowds he usually loves, to retreat instead to a cordoned-off room at the back.
But it is not just his own reputation and privacy he seeks to protect.
Harry and his pouting blonde girlfriend Chelsy Davy have just returned from a holiday on a houseboat in Botswana where, true to form, they spent most of their time together smoking, drinking beer and listening to screamingly loud music.
Contrary to appearances, this is actually a deeply serious relationship. The pair are besotted to the point where friends say that, were they a little older, a marriage might even be on the cards.
As it is, the couple have let it be known that they are prepared to wait 'as long as it takes' for a time when they can live in the same country.
Chelsy may move to Britain
There is even talk that, next year, when Chelsy finishes her degree in commerce and economics, that she may move to Britain from Cape Town to be closer to Harry.
But if Chelsy is a refuge, a person with whom Harry truly feels at ease and in whom he is able to confide, she is also a source of anxiety.
Harry is acutely aware that his mother, who died days before his 13th birthday, suffered terribly thanks to her association with the Royal Family.
He is determined the same thing does not happen to Chelsy. He has sought help from his father's advisers and done everything he can to ensure she is equipped to cope with the fame that has even followed her home to South Africa.
He also goes to great lengths to keep their meetings secret - not for his own sake but for hers.
Nor is Harry the only person concerned about the effect his relationship might have on Chelsy: her friends at home are also worried. "Chelsy's family have met Harry and like him," says a source.
"But while you might expect it to be the Royals who were anxious about Chelsy's background, there is actually more concern in the opposite direction.
"There is some feeling that going out with Harry is not a good thing because it exposes her to unwanted danger and attention. After all, Harry is followed everywhere by bodyguards. Chelsy is not. They are genuinely concerned about her safety."
Harry's friends take a rather more robust attitude to the problem, believing that Chelsy is more than capable of handling herself.
"Chelsy loves attention," says a female member of Harry's circle. "She's a real flaunter. Such a showoff. She loves boys to fancy her.
"I remember once, on a freezing day in October, getting together with some friends. It was the first time I had met Chelsy and as soon as she heard boys would be coming, she got changed - into hot- pants and a bikini top. I nearly laughed out loud."
Clearly, then, Chelsy is not a favourite among the females in Prince Harry's set.
But if she looks as if she would be more at home with the footballers' wives at Manchester United rather than at dinner with crusty Prince Charles at Highgrove, some say she has been a surprisingly steadying influence on the young Prince: "If only because he chooses to spend time with her rather than getting up to things he shouldn't."
So what does Harry see in her?
There have been concerns over links between her father, safari operator Charles Davy, and a key minister in Robert Mugabe's brutal regime in Zimbabwe, but even those who do not like her acknowledge that with her blonde hair and fabulous figure Chelsy is, physically at least, every young man's dream woman.
Their temperaments are also well-matched: both are party animals. Despite being brought up in different countries, the couple also share similar backgrounds: poor little rich kids raised in a cloistered environment with no shortage of money and no expense spared in their upbringing.
As for what Chelsy sees in Harry, well, aside from being one of the prize catches of his generation, he is good company and has always been rather more sweet-natured than he is given credit for.
Those who know them both say that of the two royal brothers it is William who is the more guarded.
"He can be sly and calculating," says a source. "But Harry has absolutely no side to him at all. What you see is what you get. He's very warm and easy to like."
One of the Prince's circle reports that he is also possessed of a hitherto unknown romantic gentility: one young lady who woke in Harry's Highgrove bed (in his pre-Chelsy days) after a romantic liaison was sent a bunch of roses, along with a note saying he couldn't stop thinking about her.
"She decided not to take it any further," says a friend. "She didn't want the hassle of going out with a royal."
Poor Harry. For while one of his circle exclaims "That boy! At all the parties I've been to with him, he's always got a flock of leggy girls around him," all this fuss is just another reminder that being royal is all very well during the merrygo-round days of your youth, but a less attractive proposition when the time comes to carve out a life for yourself.
Harry has Chelsy, of course, but what else? What will come next? What can come next?
This uncertainty is the true source of his discontent, and it is the fear of being nothing but a playboy prince that is the driving force behind his new mood.
William might not relish the prospect of a lifetime of duty but he, at least, has a defined path.
Harry, on the other hand, has no purpose. And because of the expectations and scrutiny loaded upon him by virtue of his birth, he needs to find his metier, and to do so quickly. In that respect, Sandhurst has become something of a last-chance saloon.
It is an open secret that the Prince of Wales's advisers at Clarence House are at a loss over what to do with Harry if he is not commissioned by the Army.
It does not help that Harry is not bright - today's A-levels are reported to be laughably easy yet even with his Etonian education
Harry managed to gain only two, a B and a D grade.
And so getting through the Royal Military Academy - and getting through it well - has become an imperative.
Harry is a good sportsman and, crucially, he has managed to get through the first 'five weeks of hell', albeit earning the nickname 'Sicknote' in the process.
"He has found it hard - excruciatingly tough, in fact," says a friend. "Though in that he is no different to many of the other cadets. He found it difficult to settle into the routine at first - hardly surprising given that he had been out of school and kicking his heels around the world for the better part of two years.
"If Harry was honest, he'd admit that he wasn't quite as fit as he should have been when he started and is still smoking like a trooper, which doesn't help in the slightest."
The gruelling physical regime has taken its toll. Like many other cadets, he has lost a lot of weight despite the high calorie diet and looks skinny and exhausted.
Psychologically, too, he feels under fire. 'Harry feels as if everyone is gunning for him to fail,' says a friend. "At Sandhurst, he's keen to be seen as one of the lads, though, of course, that's unrealistic. He is third in line to the throne, for goodness sake."
He returns to the Royal Military Academy on Sunday - and to the legendary tough Regimental Sergeant Majors who like to push new recruits to the limit in the week they get back from their summer break.
This will be the second term in his 42-week course and he is said to have set his sights on joining the Household Cavalry, probably the Blues and Royals, which would offer the opportunity of taking part in military operations as well as enabling him to continue playing polo, which is his passion.
That is widely seen as the perfect solution to the 'Harry problem,' but once again he faces competition from a familiar quarter: his brother.
William also wants to go Sandhurst, and if all goes to plan and he passes the requisite exams, he could join as early as January. The prospect of being outclassed by William yet again must weigh heavily on Harry.
As the 'spare to the heir' he has always been second best and the prospect of failure in this, his chosen career, is unbearable.
They'll be sending out for extra tin hats and body armour at Windsor Castle. The Queen has agreed to throw a 21st birthday bash there for Prince Harry, king of the royal party-goers.
And with Harry's previous achievements in this field in mind, she has ruled very firmly: "strictly no fancy dress".
Harry will be celebrating his birthday quietly this Thursday, but the Queen says he must wait for his party until later in the year when he's finished his officer training at Sandhurst.
It should be a lively affair, though. Not only has Harry acquired a bit of a reputation as a party animal, but such occasions can often be overtaken by events. When the Queen threw a 21st birthday do for Prince William it was gatecrashed by Aaron Barschak, an alleged comedian who disguised himself in a peach frock to slip past the police guard.
And the royal ban on fancy dress recalls the uproar earlier this year when Harry was forced to apologise after attending a party dressed as a Nazi, complete with swastika armband. He was pictured on the front page of The Sun, clutching a drink and a cigarette, under the headline "Harry the Nazi".
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 11/09/2005)
Telegraph
Prince Harry will face the toughest challenge of his fledgling Army career this week. After a term of marches and early runs at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the Prince faces the potentially daunting prospect of academic studies.
The level of difficulty is understood to be equivalent to a first- year degree course and cadets who do not make the grade are "back- termed" - that is, must resit the term.
Given Prince Harry's performance at Eton, where he came bottom in his first-year examinations and was the only student in the sixth form who was allowed to take just two A-levels - he finally received a B in art and a D in geography - he may find the next few weeks challenging.
His unimpressive classroom achievements led to allegations that he cheated during his art A-level. Although these were subsequently dismissed, a hearing was told that the prince's coursework contained numerous mistakes.
Eton's headmaster, Tony Little, said that the art project was littered with errors, including a reference to an artist with a "forthwith manner" rather than "forthright".
The prince, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Thursday, will embark on the "demanding course", which involves war studies, international relations and management and communications studies when the second term at Sandhurst begins tomorrow.
Prince Harry, photographed last week smoking and drinking on holiday in Botswana with Chelsy Davy, will be required to write a series of essays and give presentations on famous battles and complex subjects such as globalisation.
He will also have to prove to tutors that he has a full understanding of military law and the rules of armed conflict.
The prince will also be taught communication and management skills, such as media awareness, interview and negotiation techniques.
After a review of officer training in the 1990s, a decision was taken to place greater emphasis on the intellectual development of officer cadets, which led to the course being extended by almost four months.
Prince Harry is believed to have coped reasonably well at Sandhurst. His instructors are understood to have been impressed with his attitude, physical performance and leadership skills.
An officer who recently completed the commissioning course, said: "The academic side of Sandhurst is one of the most interesting parts of the course, but it is quite intellectually challenging. You have to be up to speed on international affairs or you will not be able to play a full part in the tutorials and will struggle."
He's cast as the royal wild child, the hellraiser with a short fuse. But, as David Smith reveals, at 21 Harry is coming of age in more ways than one
Sunday September 11, 2005
The Observer
Up at a brisk 6am, crunching across the parade ground, yomping over fields with back-breaking loads - there are probably better ways to celebrate your coming-of-age. But however much Officer Cadet Wales - better known as Prince Harry - would like to party on his 21st birthday this week, there are good official reasons why he will spend the day mucking in at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. Precedent is one. When his brother William turned 21, the extravagant party at Windsor Castle was attended by 300 guests, including the Queen and Aaron Barschak, the 'comedy terrorist' dressed as Osama bin Laden who kissed the prince on both cheeks, causing a public relations calamity for royal security.
Then there was the 'Colonial and Native' themed fancy-dress party marking the 22nd birthday of a friend. Harry turned up sporting the khaki uniform of an Afrika Korps soldier with a Nazi swastika armband, just weeks before the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. He was photographed by a fellow reveller, who sold the snap to the Sun for an estimated £10,000.
Far safer, then, that the third in line to the throne should spend Thursday training as usual against the austere backdrop of the early 19th-century Old College and its two cannon captured at the Battle of Waterloo. At the weekend Harry will do three interviews, pose for official photographs and attend a low-key birthday bash at Highgrove, the Prince of Wales's country retreat. Rumour has it that he is upset by this damp squib and will be expecting his father to make up for it; Charles marked his first son's 21st by presenting him with a £100,000 Argentinian polo pony.
The William comparison. It is always there, always casting a long shadow. While to some the royal household seems utterly remote in its fame and privilege, the modern dynamics of the Windsors - marriage, divorce, fraternal jostling - chime with millions of families as the stuff of daily life. Last month a 10-year study concluded that, regardless of family size and income, the eldest child is the most successful academically and at work.
As ever, royalty and its attendant media scrutiny magnify the patterns. In their roles as 'the heir and the spare', William is cast as the sensible eldest, putting duty first as he prepares to inherit an ancient destiny - while Harry, shouldering less responsibility, is the testosterone-fuelled 'wild child', even as he nears 21, described by an acquaintance as 'having the devil in him, in a nice way'. His binge-drinking, experimentation with soft drugs and reckless hedonism with 'dangerous' hangers-on, now combined with a career in the military, have often drawn parallels with another royal Harry. Shakespeare's Prince Hal finally rejects his life of debauchery to spurn Falstaff and begin a reign which will see him win the Battle of Agincourt. But then, he was a first-born. Robert Lacey, the royal biographer, said: 'I've heard families say of their naughty child, "He's the Harry of the family." The so-called danger factors attached to Prince Harry are greatly exaggerated and stem from the stereotype of William as the blue-eyed boy and Harry as the black sheep of the family. That stereotype has always been there: Princess Margaret played the role for many years. The duality and polarity of the roles helps people make sense of things. To have a scallywag in the royal family is part of his function and rather a good thing.'
The prince's relationship with the media has been an endlessly evolving and complex question inherited from his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. The camera fell in love with him when he walked, head bowed, behind her funeral cortege days before his 13th birthday. At Eton, where he was sent against advice and struggled academically, photographers agreed to keep their distance. But when he left in 2003 for a 'gap year and three-quarters', he was regarded as fair game: he once invited a girl to join him on a swing by asking, 'Do you want to be in the papers tomorrow?' Now the relationship threatens to turn ugly.
Last year he was said to have shoved a camera at a photographer in a 3am scuffle outside the Pangaea nightclub in London's Piccadilly. A trip to Argentina was reportedly cut short because he spent 13 days drinking and playing motorbike polo, hotly denied by Clarence House officials. His art teacher at Eton claimed to have helped him pass an exam, generating more headlines, although he was cleared of cheating. On another occasion Harry and his 'first true love', Zimbabwe-born Chelsy Davy, arrived at a hotel on an island off Mozambique to find newspaper reporters booked into the adjacent room. The journalists were turfed out and there was another stand- off between armed guards and seaborne photographers.
At Sandhurst last month there was a panic when an undercover News of the World reporter claimed to have come within touching distance of Harry three times after being issued with an 'access all areas' security pass when he got a job in the academy's carpentry workshop. A military exercise was once interrupted after a photographer had ventured too close to the prince. Such setbacks add to the headaches of Paddy Harverson, the Prince of Wales's spin doctor, who said: 'Clarence House is always looking at ways to ensure Harry can complete his cadetship and start an army career free from the disruptive influence some media represent.'
In a PR counter-offensive, Harry visited Aids orphans in Lesotho, Africa, and told an ITV camera crew: 'I believe I've got a lot of my mother in me.' He radiated happiness at his father's wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles. But as he turns 21, the attention and potential flashpoints are only likely to get worse.
Is it because Harry is truly a playboy prince who threatens the monarchy, or merely a typical drinking and clubbing young man seen through a particular prism to fit the expected narrative? According to the publicist Max Clifford, it makes little difference. 'The reality doesn't matter that much,' he said. 'If he only went out once a year, there would be huge media coverage and it would be endlessly regurgitated.
'He's causing the biggest worry to the royals, and they've not been very good at damage limitation so far. He's the Wayne Rooney of the royal family, with all the potential dangers. He's not going to listen to the old flunkies who advised his dad.
'William has more of his mother's instincts in terms of projecting an image and using the media and playing the game. He will get better at it as he gets older, whereas Harry is a different matter and the older he gets, the less he's going to care. He seems to have far less regard than William for the institution of monarchy. It's incredibly exciting if you're a tabloid editor. You can potentially see a lot of big stories about Harry. The republicans are also looking forward to it.'
According to royal watchers, Harry feels the criticisms and intrusions acutely. Some believe his blunders could be avoided with more parental guidance. Penny Junor, a biographer of Prince Charles, said: 'He's a bit of a timebomb, but underneath it all he's a nice boy and it does grieve him every time he makes a cock-up. It upsets him to know what people think and the media can't be top of his Christmas card list.
'William has been drilled by both his parents from an early age in things like always look people in the eye, always shake hands, always be aware the press are watching. Maybe they took their eye off it with the number two. I know that with my own children, numbers two, three and four got away with a lot more than the eldest.' She added: 'Harry hasn't got a mother at home. If most mothers saw their son going to a party wearing a swastika they'd say, "That's a bit tasteless, isn't it?" There's no one around to do that.'
Those qualities are being instilled at Britain's top military academy, which Harry entered in May on minimum qualifications - two A levels - but where he survived the first 'five of weeks of hell' and is said to have knuckled down. 'Diana would be proud of him,' added Junor.
Christopher Wilson, the royal author, said: 'It's been a triumph over adversity for him to get through the first period at Sandhurst. Many drop out, but he survived and it wasn't made any easier for him. He's toughened up, he's wised up and we're seeing a slow maturing period.'
The long-term question is whether Harry might prompt comparisons with Prince Andrew, another 'playboy prince' who went on to serve in the Falklands. A member of the prince's polo-playing set, who did not wish to be named, said: 'He appears to have found an expression for his life as a rich young officer. He will probably push hard to be in a hostile situation and the feeling is he would probably succeed; he is the "spare". What's important is his personal fulfilment rather than what the state might need.'
Such a decision, with all its profound implications, would have to be made by the Queen - or King. The career arc from wastrel Prince Hal to lion of the battlefield may not be quite so fanciful after all.
Britain's Prince Harry is reportedly set to be given a £5,000 Rolex watch by his girlfriend for his 21st birthday.
Sources claim 19-year-old Chelsy Davy has splashed out on the designer timepiece for the young royal, who will celebrate his birthday on September 15.
The expensive watch is said to feature a champagne dial with a steel and gold oysterlock bracelet. An insider is quoted by Britain's Daily Star newspaper as saying: "Harry has made no secret that he has always longed for a Rolex ever since he was little and saw James Bond wearing one in a film.
"So Chelsy went out and bought him a gold and steel Yachtmaster. Harry will be over the moon." Harry is already celebrating his birthday by partying on a houseboat in Botswana.
The prince, Chelsy, and 14 of their friends have been enjoying a water safari – complete with beer, cigarettes and loud music. Harry and his friends are staying on the Kubu Queen, a two-storey wooden houseboat on the Okavango Delta.
The red-haired royal is making the most of his holiday because his father, Prince Charles, has reportedly banned him from throwing a wild party back in England.
WILLS' GIRL IS BANNED
By Royal Editor Dean Rousewell
People
PRINCE Charles and Camilla sensationally BANNED Prince William's sexy girlfriend from yesterday's big society wedding.
They insisted vivacious Kate Middleton stay AWAY from the service as Camilla's son Tom said I Do to his quiet bride.
Charles and Camilla wanted nothing and no one to upstage her big day.
Wills was understood to be unhappy at the bar on his girlfriend seeing Tom, 31, wed Sara, 32.
But she WAS allowed to join William, 32, brother Harry, 20, and guests at the reception held in huge marquees on a nearby cow field. There star-studded guests tucked into down-market shepherd's pie, sausage rolls and ice cream.
Posher oysters and champagne were also served.
But Charles, Camilla, William and Harry slipped away after a brief stay. A top aide revealed Kate was "surprised" at her ban but dealt with
it "maturely".
By Charlotte Gill in London and Rob Crilly in Shakawe
Daily Mail
7th September 2005
PRINCE Harry and his girlfriend Chelsy Davy head out for a water safari in Africa, complete with all the essentials – cans of beer, cigarettes and loud music.
The couple are on holiday in the beautiful Okavango Delta in Botswana, which is noted for its wildlife.
They are staying on the Kubu Queen, a two-storey wooden houseboat with two double bedrooms, evoking memories of the boat in the 1951 film The African Queen.
Unlike the characters played by Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, however, they are spending every night partying into the small hours with friends.
A local fisherman said: `We see them every day, taking pictures of the wildlife, fishing or sunbathing. `They look like they are having a relaxing day and then after dark we hear a lot of music and can see them all drinking beer and having a party on the boat. `It disturbs the animals that come here at night – the elephants sometimes come here to drink and the hippos go on to the land to eat grass.'
Harry, 20, flew to Botswana during a break from his Army training at Sandhurst, while his 19-year-old girlfriend is on holiday from university in Cape Town, South Africa.
On one trip, they journeyed out in a small speedboat with music pumping out from a stereo. Their guide said: `Yes, we get noisy people, even here. These guys are having a pretty wild time up and down this river.'
At one point the music was cut and the boat slowed to a halt while Harry, in baggy khaki shorts and black T-shirt, jumped on to the prow to try his hand at fishing. When another party of anglers asked about his catch, he replied: `Not much, just a couple of barbels.'
The Kubu Queen left its moorings at a fishing lodge near the town of Shakawe in northern Botswana on Friday and is not expected to return until the end of the week.
Some of Harry's friends are sharing the houseboat but the rest are camping at a secluded spot known as Maswabi Island. The area is a perfect hideaway for Harry and Chelsy. They can lose themselves among the 700 square miles of meandering rivers famous for tigerfish, hidden channels and papyrus-fringed lagoons that make up the Okavango wetlands.
Like his brother William, Harry loves Botswana and took Chelsy on safari there in April.
On Sunday he returns to Sandhurst for the most intense three weeks
of his Army training. It means he will not be able to celebrate his
21st birthday properly on September 15.
The first Prince Harry coin has been made to mark his 21st birthday next week. It features a portrait on the reverse of Harry dressed in a jumper and open necked shirt and includes his coat of arms. The writing around the edge refers to the royal Army recruit as H.R.H. Prince of Henry of Wales - his official title.
On the other side of the £5 coin is a portrait of his grandmother, the Queen, which comes from one of the familiar coin effigies created by Raphael Maklouf.
The modern image of Harry was modelled by Royal Mint engraver Robert Elderton from photographs taken by George Bodnar. A Royal Mint spokeswoman said: "It's been approved by the Queen and gone through the Palace.
"Harry will have seen it too. We expect this coin to be very, very popular like the ones for William's 21st."
The set of coins will be legal tender in Alderney where they were issued but cannot be used as currency in the rest of the UK. Harry, who is on holiday in Botswana with girlfriend Chelsy Davy, turns 21 on September 15. The Prince Henry Alderney £5 brilliant uncirculated coin costs £9.95 and 10,000 will be made.
The Gold Crown costs £645 (150 made); the Silver £39.95 (2,500 made). The Gold Kilo which has a face value of £1,000 costs £15,500 (21 made) and the £50 Silver kilo costs £749 (100 made).
The coins will be available until December 31, 2005, on 0845 6088300 or www.royalmint.com
Britain's Prince Harry has been celebrating his 21st birthday by partying on a houseboat in Botswana.
The prince, his girlfriend Chelsy Davy, and 14 of their friends have been enjoying a water safari - complete with cans of beer, cigarettes and loud music.
The young royal and his friends are staying on the Kubu Queen, a two-storey wooden houseboat on the Okavango Delta.
A crew member told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "They're having the time of their lives. We've provided extra supplies of beer and spirits for this trip.
"Harry is the life and soul of the party. They've been playing rock music at full blast, drinking, laughing and having a great time."
The young prince does not turn 21 until September 15, but is making the most of his holiday because his father, Prince Charles, has reportedly banned him from throwing a wild party back in England.
Charles is keen for his son to stay out of trouble, and has limited him to a low-key gathering of close friends and family.
A friend of Harry said: "Harry loves a good party and is very frustrated that his father has forbidden him from holding his own."
Harry flew into Botswana during a break from training at Army base Sandhurst and his 19-year-old girlfriend is on holiday from university in Cape Town, South Africa.
PRINCE CHARLES has taken strict measures to ensure the only thing that goes up in flames on his son Harry's 21st birthday are the candles on his cake. The tearaway Prince has been told he is not allowed to throw a wild party to celebrate his landmark birthday on September 15.
The ban is causing tensions in the oftfraught father-son relationship. While Prince Charles has told friends his decision stems from security concerns following stunts such as the Fathers 4 Justice campaigners' protests at Buckingham Palace and the infiltration of the Palace by a tabloid journalist posing as a footman, poor Prince Harry has been taking things more personally. Harry, who embarrassed the Royals when he dressed as a Nazi at a `Colonial and Native' themed party and when he was in a scuffle with a photographer following a party at Pangea nightclub in London, has told friends he believes he will never be truly forgiven for those mistakes.
While his elder brother William was allowed a large `Out of Africa' themed party to mark his coming-of--age birthday two years ago, Prince Harry will just be having a small get-together of family and close friends next weekend, before he goes back to Sandhurst military academy on September 11.
For his actual birthday, he will be back at Sandhurst and in the classroom as usual. A pal of the Prince tells me: `Harry loves a good party and is very frustrated that his father has forbidden him from holding his own.
`He is angry that he is about to turn 21, an age at which he can legally make all his own decisions and yet he is still under strict instructions. He's apologised about the embarrassment he has caused his family in the past and he's not sure what else he can do to win back trust.'
Buckingham Palace confirmed: `Harry will be spending his birthday privately. As yet no party has been planned.'
Prince Harry is to join the Household Cavalry, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. The Prince, 20, who is a third of the way through his commissioning course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, is said to have been attracted to the regiment because it will offer him the chance of taking part in military operations and because the unit's equestrian links will enable him to continue his polo career.
The Household Cavalry is the most glamorous of the Guards regiments, not least because of its extraordinary ceremonial uniforms, which are marked by their plumed helmets, gleaming breastplates and thigh-length black leather boots.
Prince Harry hopes to join the Life Guards after Sandhurst
Prince Harry will need to apply officially to join the Household Cavalry, which consists of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st The Royal Dragoons), in the final term of his 42-week course at Sandhurst, which begins in January.
Most of the training in the first two terms at Sandhurst is based on infantry tactics, and cadets previously considering careers in other branches of the Army often switch to the infantry towards the end of the Sandhurst course.
A senior Army officer said: "There is time for Harry to change his mind but he looks set on joining the Life Guards - after all, they are a very fine regiment."
He added: "But I pity the commanding officer of whichever regiment he joins. From the moment Harry arrives, how that unit conducts itself will come under the spotlight, with the world's media waiting for his first mistake."
The Household Cavalry is based in Windsor and was formed out of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals in 1992. It is the only mounted unit in the Household Division.
The regiment is in effect split into two distinct organisations. As the Household Cavalry Regiment, it is deployed on military operations. The second unit is the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, which has a ceremonial role.
James Hewitt, who had an affair with the Prince's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, also served in the Life Guards.
By Richard Palmer, Daily Express
Sept 5 2005
Prince William dispensed with a century and a half of royal tradition as he chose not to wear a kilt to attend the Highland Games.
Instead, the 23-year-old stole the show in a sober navy blue suit with a blue shirt and tie, which set off his golden tan and tousled surfer-style hair.
The Prince joined the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Braemer Gathering, where a crowd of 17,000 cheered on the Highland dancers, caber tossers and tug-of-war teams.
Ever since Queen Victoria first attended the Highland Games at the village in 1848 it has been common practice for the visiting male royals to wear full Highland dress.
But royal fans did not seem to mind William's break with tradition and said his new style brings to mind the fashion-conscious Princess Diana.
Francine Hold, from Banchory in Aberdeenshire, said: "William looked absolutely fantastic.
"He's got the surfer look down to a tee and is the spitting image of his mum now.
"It's really nice he came to the Games with his granny to keep the royal tradition going. It would have been good to see him in a kilt - but then I suppose he's not really Scottish."
Prince Philip, at least, kept up the tradition, though he was also sporting an unsightly plaster on his ear.
At one point the Queen even appeared to be pointing at the larger plaster with a grimace on her face.
Willie Meston, secretary of the event said: "I've no idea what was wrong with him. He's probably, like me, cut himself shaving, or something like that. But he didn't seem to be having any problems hearing."
The royal party spent just over an hour at the event, departing earlier than usual to allow Prince William to catch a flight to England from Aberdeen airport.