Edward VIII
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, Emperor of India, from 20 January 1936 until his abdication on 11 December the same year, after which he became the Duke of Windsor. Edward was the eldest son of King George Queen Mary, he was created Prince of Wales on his sixteenth birthday, nine weeks after his father succeeded as king. As a young man, he served in the British Army during the First World War and undertook several overseas tours on behalf of his father. Edward became king on his father's death in early 1936. However, he showed impatience with court protocol, caused concern among politicians by his apparent disregard for established constitutional conventions. Only months into his reign, he caused a constitutional crisis by proposing to Wallis Simpson, an American who had divorced her first husband and was seeking a divorce from her second; the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions opposed the marriage, arguing a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands was politically and unacceptable as a prospective queen consort.
Additionally, such a marriage would have conflicted with Edward's status as the titular head of the Church of England, which at the time disapproved of remarriage after divorce if a former spouse was still alive. Edward knew the British government, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, would resign if the marriage went ahead, which could have forced a general election and would ruin his status as a politically neutral constitutional monarch; when it became apparent he could not marry Wallis and remain on the throne, Edward abdicated. He was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI. With a reign of 326 days, Edward is one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British history. After his abdication, he was created Duke of Windsor, he married Wallis in France on 3 June 1937. That year, the couple toured Germany. During the Second World War, he was at first stationed with the British Military Mission to France, but after private accusations that he held Nazi sympathies he was appointed Governor of the Bahamas.
After the war, Edward spent the rest of his life in retirement in France. Edward and Wallis remained married until his death in 1972. Edward was born on 23 June 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond Park, on the outskirts of London during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, he was the eldest son of the Duchess of York. His father was the son of the Princess of Wales, his mother was the eldest daughter of the Duchess of Teck. At the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind his grandfather and father, he was baptised Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David in the Green Drawing Room of White Lodge on 16 July 1894 by Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury. The names were chosen in honour of Edward's late uncle, known to his family as "Eddy" or Edward, his great-grandfather King Christian IX of Denmark; the name Albert was included at the behest of Queen Victoria for her late husband Albert, Prince Consort, the last four names – George, Andrew and David – came from the patron saints of England, Scotland and Wales.
He was always known to his close friends by his last given name, David. As was common practice with upper-class children of the time and his younger siblings were brought up by nannies rather than directly by their parents. One of Edward's early nannies abused him by pinching him before he was due to be presented to his parents, his subsequent crying and wailing would lead the Duchess to send him and the nanny away. The nanny was discharged. Edward's father, though a harsh disciplinarian, was demonstrably affectionate, his mother displayed a frolicsome side with her children that belied her austere public image, she was amused by the children making tadpoles on toast for their French master, encouraged them to confide in her. Edward was tutored at home by Helen Bricka; when his parents travelled the British Empire for nine months following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, young Edward and his siblings stayed in Britain with their grandparents, Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII, who showered their grandchildren with affection.
Upon his parents' return, Edward was placed under the care of two men, Frederick Finch and Henry Hansell, who brought up Edward and his brothers and sister for their remaining nursery years. Edward was kept under the strict tutorship of Hansell until thirteen years old. Private tutors taught him French. Edward took the examination to enter the Royal Naval College and began there in 1907. Hansell had wanted Edward to enter school earlier. Following two years at Osborne College, which he did not enjoy, Edward moved on to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. A course of two years, followed by entry into the Royal Navy, was planned. A bout of mumps may have made him infertile. Edward automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay on 6 May 1910 when his father ascended the throne as George V on the death of Edward VII, he was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester a month on 23 June 1910, his 16th birthday. Preparations for his future as king began in earnest, he was withdrawn from his naval course before his formal graduation, served as midshipman for three months aboard the battleship Hindustan immediately entered Magdalen College, for which, in the opinion of his biogra
Henry I of England
Henry I known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. Henry was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England but Henry was left landless. Henry purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but William and Robert deposed him in 1091. Henry rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert. Henry was present when William died in a hunting accident in 1100, he seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less popular policies. Henry married Matilda of Scotland but continued to have a large number of mistresses by whom he had many illegitimate children. Robert, who invaded in 1101, disputed Henry's control of England; the peace was short-lived, Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106 defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life.
Henry's control of Normandy was challenged by Louis VI of France, Baldwin VII of Flanders and Fulk V of Anjou, who promoted the rival claims of Robert's son, William Clito, supported a major rebellion in the Duchy between 1116 and 1119. Following Henry's victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120. Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England and Normandy. In England, he drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxation, but strengthened it with additional institutions, including the royal exchequer and itinerant justices. Normandy was governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henry's system were "new men" of obscure backgrounds rather than from families of high status, who rose through the ranks as administrators. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a serious dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, resolved through a compromise solution in 1105.
He supported the Cluniac order and played a major role in the selection of the senior clergy in England and Normandy. Henry's only legitimate son and heir, William Adelin, drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, throwing the royal succession into doubt. Henry took a second wife, Adeliza of Louvain, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. In response to this, Henry declared his daughter, Empress Matilda, his heir and married her to Geoffrey of Anjou; the relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness. Despite his plans for Matilda, the King was succeeded by his nephew, Stephen of Blois, resulting in a period of civil war known as the Anarchy. Henry was born in England in 1068, in either the summer or the last weeks of the year in the town of Selby in Yorkshire, his father was William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who had invaded England in 1066 to become the King of England, establishing lands stretching into Wales.
The invasion had created an Anglo-Norman elite, many with estates spread across both sides of the English Channel. These Anglo-Norman barons had close links to the kingdom of France, a loose collection of counties and smaller polities, under only the minimal control of the king. Henry's mother, Matilda of Flanders, was the granddaughter of Robert II of France, she named Henry after her uncle, King Henry I of France. Henry was the youngest of Matilda's four sons. Physically he resembled his older brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus, being, as historian David Carpenter describes, "short and barrel-chested," with black hair; as a result of their age differences and Richard's early death, Henry would have seen little of his older brothers. He knew his sister Adela well, as the two were close in age. There is little documentary evidence for his early years, he was educated by the Church by Bishop Osmund, the King's chancellor, at Salisbury Cathedral. It is uncertain how far Henry's education extended, but he was able to read Latin and had some background in the liberal arts.
He was given military training by an instructor called Robert Achard, Henry was knighted by his father on 24 May 1086. In 1087, William was fatally injured during a campaign in the Vexin. Henry joined his dying father near Rouen in September, where the King partitioned his possessions among his sons; the rules of succession in western Europe at the time were uncertain. In other parts of Europe, including Normandy and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided up, with the eldest son taking patrimonial lands – considered to be the most valuable – and younger sons given smaller, or more acquired, partitions or estates. In dividing his lands, William appears to have followed the Norman tradition, distinguishing between Normandy, which he had inherited, England, which he had acquired through war. William's second son, had died in a hunting accident, leaving
Earl of Plymouth
Earl of Plymouth is a title, created three times: twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation was in 1675 for Charles FitzCharles, illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Catherine Pegge, he died without heirs in 1680. The second creation came in 1682 in favour of 7th Baron Windsor; the Windsor family descends from Sir Andrew Windsor, who notably fought at the Battle of the Spurs in 1513, where he was knighted. In 1529 he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Windsor, of Stanwell in the County of Buckingham, his grandson, the third Baron, fought at the Battle of St Quentin in 1557. Edward's elder son Frederick, the fourth Baron, died unmarried at an early age and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fifth Baron; the latter's son, the sixth Baron, was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy. On Thomas's death in 1641 the barony fell into abeyance between his sisters; the abeyance was terminated in 1660 in favour of Thomas Hickman, the seventh Baron.
He was the son of the Honourable Elizabeth Windsor, her husband Dixie Hickman, assumed the additional surname of Windsor. Windsor notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire. In 1682 he was created Earl of Plymouth in the Peerage of England, he was succeeded by his grandson, the second Earl, who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire and Flint. His grandson and namesake, the fourth Earl, was Lord Lieutenant of Glamorganshire. On the death of fourth Earl's childless grandson, the sixth Earl, in 1833, the barony and earldom separated; the barony fell into abeyance between his sisters Lady Maria Windsor, wife of Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire, Lady Harriet Windsor, wife of the Honourable Robert Clive, second son of Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis. The sixth Earl was succeeded in the earldom by his uncle, the seventh Earl; the seventh Earl died unmarried and was succeeded by his younger brother, the eighth Earl. The eighth Earl was childless and on his death in 1843 the earldom became extinct.
The barony of Windsor remained in abeyance until 1855 when the abeyance was terminated in favour of the aforementioned younger sister Lady Harriet Windsor, who became the thirteenth Baroness. The same year she assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Windsor, her eldest son the Honourable Robert predeceased her and she was succeeded by her grandson, the fourteenth Baron, a prominent Conservative politician and held office as Paymaster-General and First Commissioner of Works. In 1905 the earldom of Plymouth was revived in the third creation when Robert was created Viscount Windsor, of St Fagans in the County of Glamorgan, Earl of Plymouth, in the County of Devon; these titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first Earl was succeeded by his second and only surviving son, the second Earl, a Conservative politician and served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ivor's eldest son, the third Earl, succeeded in 1943 and died on 7 March 2018 when he was succeeded by his own son, the present fourth Earl. As a male-line descendant of the first Earl of Powis the present Earl is in remainder to this peerage and its subsidiary titles. Another member of the Windsor family was the Honourable Thomas Windsor, younger son of Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth, created Viscount Windsor in 1699; this title became extinct on the death of his son, the second Viscount, in 1758. The second Viscount's daughter and heiress, the Honourable Charlotte Jane Windsor, married John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. In 1796 the Windsor title was revived when Lord Bute was made Earl of Marquess of Bute; the family seat was Hewell Grange, is now Oakly Park, Bromfield near Ludlow, Shropshire. The unusual forename'Other' is traditional in the family and derives from a legendary Saxon ancestor'Otho' or'Othere'. Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor William Windsor, 2nd Baron Windsor Edward Windsor, 3rd Baron Windsor Frederick Windsor, 4th Baron Windsor Henry Windsor, 5th Baron Windsor Thomas Windsor, 6th Baron Windsor Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 7th Baron Windsor Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth Other Windsor, 2nd Earl of Plymouth Other Windsor, 3rd Earl of Plymouth Other Lewis Windsor, 4th Earl of Plymouth Other Hickman Windsor, 5th Earl of Plymouth Other Archer Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth Andrew Windsor, 7th Earl of Plymouth, succeeded by his brother Henry Windsor, 8th Earl of Plymouth, earldom extinct.
Harriet Windsor, 13th Baroness Windsor Robert George Windsor-Clive, 14th Baron Windsor Robert George Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth Other Robert Windsor-Clive, Viscount Windsor Ivor Miles Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth Other Robert Ivor Windsor-Clive, 3rd Earl of Plymouth Ivor Edward Other Windsor-Clive, 4th Earl of Plymouth The heir apparent is the present holder's son Robert Other Ivor Windsor-Clive, Viscount Windsor
Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster
Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, was a British barrister and civil servant noted for his long tenure as Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office. Born to a Mancunian business family, Schuster was educated at St. George's School and Winchester College before matriculating at New College, Oxford in 1888 to read history. After graduation, he joined the Inner Temple with the aim of becoming a barrister, was called to the Bar in 1895. Practising in Liverpool, Schuster was not noted as a successful barrister, he joined Her Majesty's Civil Service in 1899 as secretary to the Chief Commissioner of the Local Government Act Commission. After serving as secretary to several more commissions, he was made Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office in 1915. Schuster served in this position for 29 years under ten different Lord Chancellors, with the contacts obtained thanks to his long tenure and his work outside the Office he became "one of the most influential Permanent Secretaries of the 20th century".
His influence over decisions within the Lord Chancellor's Office and greater Civil Service led to criticism and suspicions that he was a "power behind the throne", which culminated in a verbal attack by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Hewart in 1934 during a session of the House of Lords. Schuster was elevated to the peerage. Despite being retired he continued to work in government circles, such as with the Allied Commission for Austria and by using his seat in the House of Lords as a way to directly criticise legislation. Schuster was born on 22 August 1869 to Frederick Schuster, a manager of the Manchester firm of merchants Schuster and Company, his wife Sophia Wood, the daughter of a lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army; the family described themselves as "Unitarian" but were descended from Jews who had converted to Christianity in the mid-1850s and included other notable people such as Sir Arthur Schuster, Sir Felix Schuster, Sir George Schuster. From the age of seven he was educated at St. George's School, one of the most expensive preparatory schools in the country but one known for harsh treatment.
During the school holidays he accompanied his father to Switzerland, where he developed a lifelong love of mountaineering and skiing. He was president of the Alpine Club from 1938 to 1940; when he was fourteen he was sent to Winchester College, known as both the most academic of the main public schools and for its discomfort. Schuster's time at St George's had prepared him for discomfort, he was noted as being proud of attending the school. While at Winchester Schuster played Winchester College football and was involved in debates, he matriculated at New College, Oxford in 1888 and graduated with second-class honours in history in 1892. Despite his lack of academic brilliance he was invited to deliver the Romanes Lecture in 1949, an honour only given to the most eminent alumni of Oxford. After graduation, he unsuccessfully tried to become an examination fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. After his failure to become a fellow of All Souls, Schuster joined the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in 1895.
He practised in Liverpool and, though he was not noted as a successful barrister, he became Circuit Junior of the Northern Circuit Bar in late 1895, an important position. By this point Schuster was married and required a steady income to support his family, something which the bar was not providing. With his love of the English language and the knowledge that he was "good with paper" Schuster decided to join Civil Service, with the intention of becoming a Permanent Secretary. Schuster entered the Civil Service in 1899 and as a qualified lawyer was exempt from the required examinations, something that marked him as "different" from other civil service employees with whom he worked, his first post was as secretary to the Chief Commissioner of the Local Government Act Commission, which produced a report leading to the creation of the London County Council. After this he worked as a secretary to the Great Northern Railway and for the workers' union at London & Smith's Bank Ltd. After his job at the union he was noticed by Robert Morant who employed him as a temporary legal assistant to the Board of Education on the understanding that the job would become permanent, which it did in 1907.
In 1911 he was promoted to Principal Assistant Secretary, after Morant was appointed to the English Commission under the National Insurance Act 1911 Schuster followed him by being appointed Chief Registrar of the Friendly Societies, which granted him a place on the Societies' committee. In February 1912 he gave up his position as Chief Registrar to become Secretary to the English Insurance Commission, with the newspapers of the time reporting that he had had "three promotions in two months", a consequence of his high standing with Morant. During this period he was involved in drafting education bills with Arthur Thring; the commission was "a galaxy of future Whitehall stars", contained many individuals who would become noted civil servants in their own right, including Morant, John Anderson, Warren Fisher and John Bradbury. The contacts Schuster made during his time on the committee were instrumental in advancing his career.
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster; the full name of the house is the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Owing to shortage of space, its office accommodation extends into Portcullis House; the Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved; the House of Commons of England started to evolve in 14th centuries. It became the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland in 1707, assumed the title of "House of Commons of Great Britain and Ireland" after the political union with Ireland at the start of the 19th century; the "United Kingdom" referred to was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1800, became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922.
Accordingly, the House of Commons assumed its current title. Under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords' power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power; the Government is responsible to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister stays in office only as long as she or he retains the confidence of a majority of the Commons. Although it does not formally elect the prime minister, the position of the parties in the House of Commons is of overriding importance. By convention, the prime minister is answerable to, must maintain the support of, the House of Commons. Thus, whenever the office of prime minister falls vacant, the Sovereign appoints the person who has the support of the House, or, most to command the support of the House—normally the leader of the largest party in the Commons, while the leader of the second-largest party becomes the Leader of the Opposition. Since 1963, by convention, the prime minister is always a member of the House of Commons, rather than the House of Lords.
The Commons may indicate its lack of support for the Government by rejecting a motion of confidence or by passing a motion of no confidence. Confidence and no confidence motions are phrased explicitly, for instance: "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government." Many other motions were until recent decades considered confidence issues though not explicitly phrased as such: in particular, important bills that were part of the Government's agenda. The annual Budget is still considered a matter of confidence; when a Government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons, the prime minister is obliged either to resign, making way for another MP who can command confidence, or to request the monarch to dissolve Parliament, thereby precipitating a general election. Parliament sits for a maximum term of five years. Subject to that limit, the prime minister could choose the timing of the dissolution of parliament, with the permission of the Monarch. However, since the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011, terms are now a fixed five years, an early general election is brought about by a two-thirds majority in favour of a motion for a dissolution, or by a vote of no confidence, not followed within fourteen days by a vote of confidence.
By this second mechanism, the UK's government can change its political composition without an intervening general election. Only four of the eight last Prime Ministers have attained office as the immediate result of a general election; the latter four were Jim Callaghan, John Major, Gordon Brown and the current Prime Minister Theresa May. In such circumstances there may not have been an internal party leadership election, as the new leader may be chosen by acclaim, having no electoral rival. A prime minister will resign after party defeat at an election if unable to lead a coalition, or obtain a confidence and supply arrangement, she or he may resign after a motion of no confidence or for health reasons. In such cases, the premiership goes to, it has become the practice to write the constitution of major UK political parties to provide a set way in which to appoint a new leader. Until 1965, the Conservative Party had no fixed mechanism for this, it fell to the Queen to appoint Harold Macmillan as the new prime minister, after taking the consensus of cabinet ministers.
By convention, ministers are members of the House of House of Lords. A handful have been appointed who were outside Parliament, but in most cases they entered Parliament in a by-election or by receiving a peerage. Exceptions include Peter Mandelson, appointed Secretary of State for Business and Regulatory Reform in October 2008 before his peerage. Since 1902, all prime ministers have been members of the Commons; the new session of Parliament was delayed to await the outcome of his by-election, which happened
His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936
His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that recognised and ratified the abdication of King Edward VIII and passed succession to his brother King George VI. The act excluded any possible future descendants of Edward from the line of succession. Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry his lover, Wallis Simpson, after facing opposition from the governments of the United Kingdom and the Dominions. Although Edward VIII had signed a declaration of abdication the previous day—10 December 1936—he remained king until giving Royal Assent to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act, which he did on 11 December, at 1.52 p.m. and the Act became effective from that time. The act was passed through the British Houses of Parliament with no amendments; as the Statute of Westminster 1931 stipulated that the line of succession must remain the same throughout the Crown's realms, the governments of some of the British Dominions—Canada, the Union of South Africa, New Zealand—requested and gave their permission for the act to become part of the law of their respective realms.
The Canadian parliament passed the Succession to the Throne Act 1937 to ratify changes to the rules of succession in Canada and ensure consistency with the changes in the rules in place in the United Kingdom. South Africa passed His Majesty King Edward the Eighth's Abdication Act, 1937, which declared the abdication to have taken effect on 10 December 1936. Australia and New Zealand did not adopt the Statute of Westminster 1931 until the 1940s and did not pass their own legislation. In the Irish Free State, independent from the United Kingdom as a dominion since December 1922, in which the monarch still had some diplomatic functions, the Oireachtas passed the Executive Authority Act 1936, recognising George VI as king from 12 December 1936; the act was necessary for two main reasons. First, there was no provision in British law for a sovereign to abdicate. Parliament had to pass a bill to remove the king from the throne; the king had to give royal assent to the legislation, which only became a law.
Second, the act ensured that any descendants of Edward VIII would have no claim to the throne, that the Royal Marriages Act 1772 would not apply to them. Upon the royal assent being communicated to Parliament on the king's behalf, the act came into effect and Edward VIII ceased to be king; the throne passed to his brother, proclaimed King George VI the next day at St. James's Palace, London. Text of the His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 as enacted or made within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. "HIS MAJESTY'S DECLARATION OF ABDICATION BILL". Parliamentary Debates. House of Commons of the United Kingdom. 12 December 1936. Col. 2199–2221
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, Diana, Princess of Wales, is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, he was styled Prince Henry of Wales from birth until his marriage, but is known as Prince Harry. Harry was educated at schools in the United Kingdom and spent parts of his gap year in Australia and Lesotho, he 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, Prince William, completed his training as a troop leader. In 2007–08, he served for over ten weeks in Helmand, but was pulled out after an Australian magazine revealed his presence there, he returned to Afghanistan for a 20-week deployment in 2012–13 with the Army Air Corps. He left the army in June 2015. Harry remains patron of its foundation, he gives patronage to several other organisations, including the HALO Trust, the London Marathon Charitable Trust, Walking With The Wounded.
On 19 May 2018, he married the American actress Meghan Markle. Hours before the wedding, his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II conferred on him the titles Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel. 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, heir apparent to Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales, he was baptised with the names Henry Charles Albert David, on 21 December 1984, at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. His parents announced their second son's name would be Prince Henry Charles Albert David, but that he would be known as Harry to his family and friends; as the prince grew up, he was referred to by Kensington Palace, therefore the Press and the public at large, as Prince Harry. As a son of the Prince of Wales, he was called Prince Henry of Wales. Diana wanted Harry and his older brother, William, to have a broader range of experiences than previous royal children.
She took them to venues that ranged from Disney World and McDonald's to AIDS clinics and homeless shelters. Harry began accompanying his parents on official visits at an early age. 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, the Prince of Wales told his sons about their mother's death. At his mother's funeral, Harry 12, accompanied his father, paternal grandfather, maternal uncle, Earl Spencer, in walking behind the funeral cortège from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey. In a 2017 interview with The Daily Telegraph, the prince acknowledged that he sought counselling after two years of "total chaos" while struggling to come to terms with the death of his mother. Like his father and brother, Harry was educated at independent schools, he started at the pre-preparatory Wetherby School. Following this, he attended Ludgrove School in Berkshire. After passing the entrance exams, he was admitted to Eton College.
The decision to place Harry at Eton went against the Windsor family convention of sending children to Gordonstoun, which Harry's grandfather, two uncles, two cousins had attended. It did, see Harry follow in the Spencer family footsteps, as both Diana's father and brother attended Eton. 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 excelled in sports polo and rugby union. One of Harry's former teachers, Sarah Forsyth, has asserted that Harry 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."After school, Harry took a gap year, during which he spent time in Australia working on a cattle station, participating in the Young England vs Young Australia Polo Test match.
He travelled to Lesotho, where he worked with orphaned children and produced the documentary film The Forgotten Kingdom. Harry entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 8 May 2005, where he was known as Officer Cadet Wales, joined the Alamein Company. In April 2006, Harry completed his officer training and was commissioned as a Cornet in the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the Household Cavalry in the British Army. On 13 April 2008, when he reached two years' seniority, Harry was promoted to lieutenant. In 2006, it was announced. A public debate ensued as to. Defence Secretary John Reid said that he should be allowed to serve on the front line of battle zones. Harry agreed saying, "If they said'no, you can't go front line' I wouldn't drag my sorry ass through Sandhurst and I wouldn't be where I am now." The Ministry of Defence and Clarence House made a joint announcement on 22 February 2007 that Harry would be deployed with his regiment to Iraq, as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd Mechanised Division – a move supported by Harry, who had stated that he would leave the army if he was told to remain in safety while his regiment went to war.
He said: "There's no way I'm going to
.jpg)