Rebellious Prince Harry Outgrowing His Reputation?
Oct. 6, 2005 — -- Red-haired Prince Harry spent his birthday at the military academy Sandhurst instead of blowing out 21 candles at a blowout Buckingham party like his big brother did years ago. Prince Charles reportedly decided that, for security reasons, it was best to avoid a lavish celebration, but many believe it was his way of keeping Harry's profile royally clean after a recent spate of poor outfits and poorer antics.
Don't worry, the No. 3 in line to the throne has much to celebrate. Despite not having the smarts or dreamy Diana-like eyes of his older brother, Prince William, Harry's got it pretty good -- no pressure to marry, no pressure to get a job and relative independence.
Two years ago, William threw an "Out of Africa" theme party for his 21st birthday, so Harry may have assumed that he would get the same privilege. Not so. All the birthday boy may be doing today is sneaking a beer at the local pub by Sandhurst. Don't mean to bust you, Harry, but we know you like to party. "I'm not having a party," he said to reporters for his birthday interview. "I'll probably be in a ditch in the middle of Wales. I might let off a party popper."
Party Pooper Charles
Blame Dad as the party pooper. Maybe Charles isn't into costume parties (more on that later) or perhaps he knows that his outstanding polo-swinging son really took advantage of his summer time off.
Once Sandhurst let out this summer, Cadet Wales, as he is known at the academy, decided to stick it out and take an Army scuba-diving course. Bravo. Dad and the queen must have been proud to see that the grueling, character-shaping training at the academy was having a positive effect on party boy Harry.
Bonus points all around, although the course only lasted five days. Harry was also known to call out sick at Sandhurst -- they don't call him "Sicknote" for nothing -- only to be caught playing polo a few days later. But hey, you gotta rest up before tournaments.
From the muddy, bone-chilling waters of the North Sea, Prince Harry left his dive in Devon for the warm embraces of his Zimbabwean girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.
Prince Harry told reporters that they are indeed dating. "I would love to talk to you about that and tell everyone how amazing she is, but that's my private life and once I start talking about that then I've left myself open," he said.
The couple and friends rented a houseboat off the coast of Mozambique. Forget the 5:30 a.m. starts or endless drills -- we're talking about kicking back and probably a bit of beer. Davy supposedly bought her sporty boyfriend a pricey Rolex the size of a polo ball (maybe he didn't read the newspaper that day because there goes the surprise).
So far, Prince Harry has expressed no everlasting commitment to his blonde beauty, but she's likely no gold digger -- she's got plenty of dough herself.
Poor Outfit and Even Poorer Antics
Regardless of Harry's recent good conduct and discreet love boat cruise, Harry's no stranger to embarrassing public missteps.
The son of the late Princess Diana, who doesn't look anything like her, recently shocked the world when he showed up at a costume party wearing a Nazi uniform.
In his birthday interview with the press he said his choice "was a very stupid thing to do and I've learnt my lesson."
Now you know why the royal family has put a halt on themed parties of any kind for a while.
The incident came on the heels of Harry losing his cool with photographers outside of a London nightclub. Considering that Harry lost his mom at the age of 12 when the car she was traveling in crashed as it was fleeing a slew of paparazzi, he can be forgiven for losing it.
"I'm a little bit oversensitive sometimes, a few people have told me," he told reporters.
At the age of 17, he got caught smoking marijuana, and although he didn't spend time in the slammer, his dad sent him to volunteer at a drug rehabilitation center.
Upon graduating from the posh high school Eton, rumors flew around that Harry had cheated. Nothing came of it but his "good" grades allowed him to get into the military academy. Since then he's stayed out of the gossip pages, perhaps to help convince Dad he deserved a party.
The young royal returned to Sandhurst after attending his stepbrother Tom Parker Bowles' wedding in early September.
No word yet on what gift Charles gave his son -- perhaps a horse or a car? Or perhaps both of those are just further encouragement for him to act recklessly?
The young prince already has plenty of money, in more ways than one. Yes, we can all buy a piece of him now. A set of 10,000 royal Prince Henry (his official name) coins have been issued and will be available in December. Each coin is a keeper because it can't be used as cash.