Prince Harry
Britain's Prince Harry knows how to party. He can shoot a gun, guzzle beer through a funnel, ride a horse and fight the Taliban. The British Royal most frequently in trouble — his reputation was recently tarnished by a video of him calling fellow soldiers by racial slurs — is known for his wild attitude, disdain for the media (his mother was Princess Diana, so can you really blame him?) and his fierce desire to live a "normal" life. But how normal can your life be when your grandmother is the Queen?
Fast Facts:
• Full title: His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales
• Born September 15, 1984
•Third in line to the throne, behind father Charles and brother William
• Was 12 years old when his mother, Princess Diana, died in an infamous Paris car accident.
• Graduated from the prestigious boys' school, Eton College, in 2003 with two A-Levels (qualification exams) in art (he earned a B) and geography (he got D).
• An Eton teacher accused Prince Harry of cheating on his 2002 exams, but a formal tribunal cleared him of all charges. The teacher was dismissed.
• Harry was caught smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol when he was 16. Prince Charles punished his son by sending him to a drug rehabilitation clinic for an afternoon to talk to drug addicts.
• After high school, Harry spent a year working on an Australian cattle farm and playing polo. He also traveled to Africa, where he worked with orphaned children and AIDS patients.
• In 2005, Harry attended a friend's "colonial and native" costume party dressed as a Nazi. After a photo of Harry wearing a Swastika armband appeared on the cover of The Sun newspaper, the Royal Family issued an apology, although Harry never apologized in person. More importantly, he never explained how his costume fit the party's theme.
• The Prince has been dating law student Chelsy Davy since 2004. Davy, whose father owns a Zimbabean safari company, did not meet Queen Elizabeth II until 2008. British tabloids frequently publish and then later retract news of the couple's alleged break-ups, citing unsubstantiated rumors.
• Harry's appetite for the nightlife is as healthy as any 24-year-old's. Tabloids follow his outings with glee, reporting multi-hour benders and make-out sessions with celebrities that are impossible to verify. According to The Sun and other papers, Harry has been on a 10-and-a-half hour bender, stolen CDs from a DJ, groped women in public and taken his clothes off.
• During a 2004 nightclub scuffle between Harry and a paparazzi photographer, he was smacked in the face with the paparazzo's camera and his lip was cut.
• Prince Harry forwent formal university education in favor of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, from which he graduated in 2006.
•Harry became second lieutenant of the Blues and Royals of the Household Calvary Regiment. He is referred to by rank as Cornet Wales.
• He's currently trained as a tank commander but will start helicopter training sometime in early 2009.
• A 2007 deployment to Iraq was cancelled after militants pledged to kill the prince. Instead, Harry stayed at home while his fellow soldiers headed into combat wearing T-shirts that read, "I'm Harry" — a reference to the "I'm Spartacus" scene in the swords-and-sandals epic.
• Harry fought Taliban forces in Afghanistan for 77 days, making him the first member of the Royal Family to serve in a combat zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew helicopters during the Falklands War. The British military tried to keep Harry's presence a secret out of concern for his safety — going so far as to broker a "blackout" deal with the British media, who promised not to reveal the prince's location — but the The Drudge Report and other foreign media outlets revealed the information, forcing his commanders to pull him from duty in early 2008.
• Harry learned of his Afghanistan deployment directly from the Queen, during a weekend visit to Windsor Castle.
See photos of Prince Harry's Afghanistan deployment
• Paparazzi took photos of Prince Harry drinking beer through a funnel while on vacation in December 2008.
• In January 2009, British tabloid News of the World posted three-year-old video footage of Harry referring to fellow soldiers as "Paki" and "raghead."
Quotes by Prince Harry
• "I do enjoy running down a ditch full of mud, firing bullets. It's the way I am. I love it." — Daily Mail, April 27, 2007
• "It's very nice to be a sort of normal person for once; I think it's about as normal as I'm going to get." — Referring to his time in the military, Washington Post, Feb. 29, 2008
• "I would never want to put someone else's life in danger when they have to sit next to the bullet magnet. But if I'm wanted, if I'm needed, then I will serve my country as I signed up to do." — Washington Post, Feb. 29, 2008
• "He's definitely the more intelligent one of the two of us." — On his brother Prince William. Interview with Matt Lauer, Dateline, June 23, 2007
• "It's weird because I think when she actually passed away, there was never peace and quiet for any of us. Her face was always splattered on the paper the whole time. And for the last 10 years, I personally feel that she has been — she's always there. It's always been a constant reminder, a constant reminder to both of us and everybody else. And, therefore, I think when you're being reminded about it, it does take a lot longer and it's a lot slower." — On coming to terms with his mother's death. Dateline interview
• "I don't know how well this would get on, but I'd probably live in Africa...as a job, it would probably be a safari guide." — On what he would do if he could have any job in the world. Dateline interview
• "Granny, I've got to go. Send my love to the corgis and Grandpa. I've got to go...God Save you, yeah, that's great." — Imitating a call to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, on the same 2006 video that captured his controversial racial remarks.
• "Her knowledge of the Army is amazing for a grandmother." — On the Queen. Times (London), Feb. 29, 2008
Quotes about Prince Harry
• "Most of them I can't call him in front of you. You know, a bit rude." — Prince William, on the nicknames he calls Prince Harry, during an an interview with Matt Lauer, Dateline, June 23, 2007
• "He realizes it was a poor choice of costume." — Official statement of apology after the Nazi costume incident
• "There is a convention that the principal heir should be kept away from real danger. As the 'spare' rather than the heir, Harry is expected by the royal family to take the ultimate military risks." — Robert Lacey, royal biographer, Washington Post, Feb. 29, 2008
• "I strongly condemn the disgraceful fact that Prince Harry used that language against my son." — Khan Abbasi, father of Ahmed Raza Khan, the fellow cadet whom Harry called a "Paki." Daily Mail, Jan. 12, 2009