Prince Harry was born on 15 September 1984 as Henry Charles Albert David at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in central London, England, and was christened on 21 December of the same year at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie.

His full title is His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, although he is commonly referred to as Prince Harry. As a prince, he does not have a surname. Like his brother William, however, Harry often uses "Wales" in place of a surname when required.

Harry attended Mrs. Jane Mynors's nursery school in West London, as did William. He later followed his brother to the Wetherby School, and later to Ludgrove School in Berkshire. He then attended Eton College located in Berkshire in 1998. In June 2003, he completed his education at Eton with two A-levels obtaining a B in Art and a D in Geography. At school, he developed his love of sport, particularly polo and rugby union. The Prince has shown a keen interest in abseiling. He has also participated in the Eton Wall Game.

After finishing Eton, Harry undertook a gap year, visiting Australia and Africa. In Australia, he, like his father before him, worked on a cattle station, and watched the 2003 Rugby World Cup being held in the country. In Africa, he worked in an orphanage in Lesotho. Later in the year, he travelled to Argentina on holiday.

On 8 May 2005, the Prince entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. There, he was known as Officer Cadet Wales instead of using his royal title, and was part of Alamein Company.

As a serving soldier, Prince Harry currently has no official Royal Engagements. However, at the age of 23, and as third in line to the throne, he became eligible to serve as a Counsellor of State (first filling this role in 2005 when the Queen was on a state visit to Malta).

In April 2006, Prince Harry launched a charity with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to aid children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

He holds the rank of Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry of the British Army. Harry was a tank commander, trained to lead a 12-man team in four armoured reconnaissance vehicles. After the decision not to send him to Iraq, he retrained as a battlefield air controller, the job he performed in Afghanistan. He was serving on the front line in Afghanistan although he was pulled out on 29 February 2008 after the world media revealed his presence there and the British authorities became concerned for his safety and the safety of those around him. He had served in Afghanistan between 14 December 2007 and 29 February 2008, for a total of 77 days.

The media continue to speculate about any and all of Prince Harry's possible girlfriends. The Prince's best known romance has been with Chelsy Davy, a Zimbabwe-born white African heiress to an African ranching and real estate fortune.