Prince Harry: the Best Man

Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, in his military uniform

Ever since he was born, his destiny relegated to that of being just a "spare" of an "heir" in the British monarchy. A spare is the term commonly used in monarchy referring to the heir-apparent or a sovereign's second son, in the event the heir-apparent could not make it to the throne, such was the famous case of King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II, who became King when his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne.

Though people saw him before as a way-ward Prince, Harry slowly transformed into a very heart-warming, responsible British royal. Just like his uncle (Prince Andrew) and grandfather (Prince Philip), the Prince had by-passed a university education to join the military. He went to the elite Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, England and became an accomplished soldier. Prince Harry was barely 13 when his mother passed away in 1997.

The Prince is patron to many charities, a humanitarian crusade made famous by his late mother, Diana Princess of Wales. He established Sentebale in Lesotho, Africa with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help vulnerable and homeless children

He vowed to continue the legacy left by his mother by establishing and supporting various charities, when he is not in his military uniform, he is actively participating in many charity events. He is now seen as a patron to many charitable foundations, mostly about children and the homeless.

Among the Waleses brothers, it is Prince Harry who expressed devotion to military life, he had been vocal with his intention to serve with his troops at wars, but his commanders are wary to send him to war-inflicted areas like Afghanistan and Iraq since his safety might be sacrificed. As third-in-line to the British throne, it is the primary duty of the British military commanders to ensure Harry's safety as they are under oath of allegiance to the British ruling sovereign. 

Chelsy Davy, a South African Law graduate, Harry's on-and-off girlfriend for 8 years now. They split in September 2010 due to intense pressure of living apart, in February 2011, Chelsy returned to London to resume her training at London's Law firm.

In 2008, at his insistence, Prince Harry was dispatched to Afghanistan near the border of the Taliban forces to be with his comrades, he was the tank commander of his batallion, it was a top secret in the British military and his direct commanders made effort to hide it from the media.

Six weeks later, one reporter spotted Harry on the ground and the news made headlines through out the world, the British field commanders were all afraid of the Prince's safety that they forcibly released him from the battlefield, Harry at first refused but the British Armed forces, in reverence to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II who is the commander-in-chief, gave an ultimatum to the Prince to leave the field, with a heavy heart, Harry cooperated and boarded a British war aircraft and went home, when he arrived at the airport, Prince William and Prince Charles were there to fetch him. It was an emotional welcome as the brothers embraced each other.

Now, after secretly throwing a stag party for Prince William, Harry left England for Norway to undergo a rigid training for an expedition trek to the North Pole. This is part of the program of Walking With the Wounded Charity, where he is the patron, to take a five-day trek to the coldest part of the earth to raise funds for the charity.

He arrived at the Arctic with a group of wounded servicemen to embark on the grueling training which include sleeping on the ice track, dragging a 100kg sled and daily lectures. The Prince will take part on the 200-mile challenge in the North Pole hauling a sled to generate more funds for this charity which aims to support wounded and paralyzed military who had served in wars.

The Prince was quoted as saying "I am so proud to be patron of Walking With The Wounded. This extraordinary expedition will raise awareness of the debt this country owes to those it sends off to fight - only for them to return wounded and scarred, physically and emotionally."

 Prince Harry and wounded servicemen

The prince, together with wounded servicemen, embarked into a grueling training in the Arctic to take part in the five-day-200-mile sled hauling in North Pole to raise funds for charity

He will take a leave temporarily from his training in the Army Air Corps as an Apache helicopter pilot to take part of this charity fund raising. He is scheduled to be back in England on April 5. The Prince is having an off and on relationship with South African law graduate, Chelsy Davy, a daughter of a Zimbabwean millionaire, who is more discreet, behave, responsible, independent and career-minded than Kate Middleton. Davy is now back in England with a Law job in London, she is reportedly attending the royal wedding as Prince Harry's date.

Harry will stand as Prince William's best man to the wedding and the one who will carry the wedding ring to the altar, he will also prepare his speech to honor the marriage of his brother, but said "to be very selective in using words" because his grandmother, the Queen, is in attendance and he doesn't want to sound very naughty.