7 photos prove Prince Harry was destined to be a little royal rebel growing up

Publish date: 2024-05-12

Prince Harry is thriving in his new life with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and their two children. As the Duke turns 39, we take a look back of iconic photos of Prince Harry while he was growing up. He was definitely the little rebel of the family.

Prince Harry was born in 1984, and is two years younger than his older brother. Born to Princess Diana and King Charles, he was the second youngster that marked a new era for the royal family. He has more than proven he’s set to make his own path in life, after moving to California with Meghan Markle in 2020. The couple stepped down as senior royals within The Firm in the best interests of their growing family. Ever since, they’ve widened their net in terms of public appearances and ventures. Some of which, they wouldn’t have been able to do if they still lived at the palace. But, looking back at Prince Harry’s years while growing up, we can see there was a clear sign he was an individual.

Prince Harry was never afraid to have fun growing up

In this adorable photo of the royals on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, the duke wanted to do his own thing instead of behaving. Millions of eyes watch in adoration at the royals when they appear on the iconic spot, and they usually step out for special occasions. Whether that’s Prince William and Kate’s wedding, or Trooping The Colour to mark the monarch’s birthday.

We can see Princess Diana is giving him a stern look. She’s probably ready to tell him to start behaving as everyone is watching. But his cheeky antics are surely making an impact on his cousin, Lady Gabriella Windsor. But it appears Lady Rose Windsor and Wills are focusing on the celebrations of the event instead.

This snap was taken in 1988, so he was only four years old. What makes it even more adorable is the matching outfit he has with his mom.

Here we go again

This was definitely the year of Harry’s tongue making an appearance.

The royal poked his tongue out at the cameras – a premonition for his true feelings later in life, perhaps – when he was in the car with his family. William, keeping a low profile next to him, didn’t want to play ball and join in. But Harry was seeing the funny side when the family visited their newborn cousin in hospital. At the time, the Duchess of York (Sarah Ferguson), had welcomed little Princess Beatrice into the world.

Showing his true feelings

Clearly, it was a trend.

The cheeky prince did it again when he was a pageboy at the wedding of his uncle Charles Spencer the following year. He didn’t seem to grow out of it when he was dressed up for the special day.

However, these weren’t the only times when Harry went against the grain, either. When arriving for a school nativity play with his mom, he made a funny face out of the car window at photographers. Diana then picked him up to take him away after the silly gesture.

Mischievous Harry

Also, when we saw Savannah Philips, great-great-granddaughter of King Charles, cheekily put her hand over Prince George’s mouth on the balcony in 2018, she may have got the idea from the Duke.

Because in 1990, when Harry was five years old, he was mischievous enough to do the same to little Beatrice.

The tradition of younger royals stealing the limelight isn’t new. Prince Louis, son of William and Kate Middleton, was the star of Trooping the Colour in 2022 and 2023.

Not afraid of his emotions

We know Prince Harry isn’t afraid of showing his emotions. But members of The Firm are often meant to be proper, polite and Stoic when performing duties.

It seems he’s kept this up into adulthood.

He’s been an advocate for mental health for a number of years. At the beginning of this year, he released his personal memoirs, where he didn’t hold back about his childhood. There was no stone left unturned for Prince Harry’s experiences growing up.

It wasn’t the first instance, he opened up before in an Apple TV docuseries, called The Me You Can’t See, with Oprah Winfrey.

Breaking out in a dance next to William

Here, we have two opposing sides. Prince Harry’s not afraid to break out a dance – likely down to his cheeky times growing up – but Wills more reserved.

Clasped hands and smiling on, he’s observing some of the fun, whereas his younger sibling is getting down with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. The pair have actually formed a real friendship over the years, bonding through their charity work. Harry and Seeiso met in 2004, when the prince was 19 and still growing up. During his gap year before college, the duke spent two months working in the country.

In 2006, the pair founded Sentebale, an organization helping vulnerable and HIV positive children in Botswana and Lesotho. Both prince’s mothers worked closely with HIV and AIDS charities, which inspired them to create the charity as a tribute.

He was clearly someone special, as not many state leaders or politicians were invited to Harry and Meghan’s wedding – but Seeiso was.

Prince Harry’s still cheeky despite growing up

There are photos of this moment, but we think the video is so much better. Yes, it’s technically not from when Prince Harry was growing up and instead an adult. However, it shows positives characteristics have remained.

Lastly, we have an adorable moment when he was at the Invictus Games in 2017. Six years ago, when sitting in the Volleyball finals, a young girl perched next to him was stealing his popcorn. It took the Duke a while to figure it out. Almost a full minute of the toddler munching away at the snack goes by.

He jokingly removes the pack away, so she can’t get anymore, teasing the youngster. The mom finds it hilarious, of course. He then talks to the parents and pulls funny faces with the girl, before lately pretending to give her a piece before eating it himself.

He clearly has a way with children, which is why he speaks of them so fondly. Recently, he spoke about a conversation he had with little Archie on what he wanted to be when he’s older. His response proved he cared more about his son than any respect a job may bring down the line.

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