Prince Harry’s transformation from wild child to hero is uncannily like that of Shakespeare’s warrior Hal

Prince Harry shows children a photograph he has taken on a Fuji X100s Camera during a visit to a herd boy night school constructed by Sentebale on December 8, 2014 in Mokhotlong, Lesotho. Photo: Getty
Prince Harry shows children a photograph he has taken on a Fuji X100s Camera during a visit to a herd boy night school constructed by Sentebale on December 8, 2014 in Mokhotlong, Lesotho. Photo: Getty

Was it the name that made him a wild boy? No, probably not. But the similarities between Prince Harry and his famous namesake, Shakespeare’s playboy warrior, are so close and so many, they could almost be scripted.

The medieval Prince Harry – or Hal – parties with his friend Sir John Falstaff and a rude entourage in the taverns of Eastcheap, chasing women, drink and fun, sometimes ending up on the wrong side of the law and generally being considered a disgrace to the royal name. He is sent away to war and redeems himself on the front line, before returning to take his duties seriously and turn his back on his old ways, including the heartbroken Sir John.

This is the plot, more or less, of Henry IV parts one and two (as well as a close parallel with the life of Henry Windsor, or Harry as we know him). Shakespeare’s character, modelled on life, transforms himself, becomes King Henry V and leads English troops to victory against the French at Agincourt, a key moment in history and drama alike.

‘It is clearly an enormous relief to Harry that unlike his namesake, he will never have to be king’

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends,” Shakespeare has him say. “Cry, ‘God for Harry, England and Saint George!’”

Parallel lives

Charles and Diana were probably thinking of the hero and not the young rebel when they named their second son Prince Henry of Wales, known as Harry, in the late summer of 1984. They were still together then and the nation still believed in the love story come fairytale it had been told.

But as tales emerged of Harry’s youth, it became obvious the red-haired, feisty prince might follow a little too closely in the footsteps of Shakespeare’s Hal. At the age of 12, Harry lost his mother. That was roughly the age of Hal when his father became king and his life was turned upside down.

At 16, the modern Harry was sent to visit rehab to face the consequences of smoking weed and heavy drinking, which he had apparently been doing at Highgrove and a pub down the road.

Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

He had The Rattlebone Inn, Shakespeare’s Hal lived it up in The Boar’s Head. Our Harry got into scuffles with photographers, stumbled drunk out of exclusive nightclubs and – with spectacular bad taste – dressed as a Nazi at a friend’s birthday fancy dress party.

He went off to the Army and was caught calling a colleague a “Paki”, causing doubts about his discipline and ability to serve, just as there were doubts about Hal in Shakespeare.

“Riot and dishonour stain the brow of my son Harry,” says the disappointed Henry IV and it’s easy to imagine a weary Charles saying the same at various points.

“Have you a ruffian that will swear, drink, dance / Revel the night, rob, murder, and commit / The oldest sins the newest kind of ways?”

Unprincely behaviour

Nobody is accusing Harry of murder (he did kill Taliban fighters from the cockpit of his Apache helicopter in Afghanistan, but legally that was war) or robbery; but the unprincely behaviour of his youth was certainly captured on camera and shared on social media in the newest kind of ways.

Like Hal, he emerged from battle with his reputation greatly enhanced. Captain Wales, as he was known, enjoyed the anonymity and camaraderie of a 10-year army career.

Hal took Falstaff with him to fight the Welsh rebels at Shrewsbury. Harry made new friends in the ranks but he also remained loyal to old mates, so who could we call his Falstaff? One early contender was Guy Pelly, a land management student wrongly accused of giving him the cannabis while Harry was at school. They were banned from having contact, until the injustice was discovered and friendship was allowed to resume.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be married in St George’s Chapel on Saturday. Photo: Victoria Jones WPA Pool/Getty Images

Harry later became a frequent visitor to Tonteria in Chelsea and other nightclubs run by Pelly, as recently as 2014. That was a mixed year for Pelly, who was banned for drink-driving but also got married at the Hunt and Polo Club in Memphis, Tennessee. Both Harry and Prince William attended.

The bride was American, which may well have given Harry ideas. But his other potential Falstaff is his “wingman” Tom “Skippy” Inskip, a fellow pupil at Eton and now a banker, who was there when Harry jumped fully clothed into a nightclub swimming pool in Croatia in 2011 and was also present when the prince went to Vegas the following year. Harry was pictured naked with a female companion during a game of strip billiards.

Harry the hero

Hal tries to convince us it is all an act, very early in Henry IV Part One: “I’ll offend to make offence a skill / “Redeeming time when men think least I will.”

‘In Meghan, he has a new ally for the next stage of his transformation’

He is behaving badly in his youth but intends to “throw off” his loose behaviour when the time is right and shine like the sun breaking through clouds. The theory is that people will take more notice when he’s good, because he has been bad in the past.

Harry, on the other hand, has apologised for causing offence. Often. But even if it wasn’t deliberate, the Shakespearean strategy is definitely working for him. He is now seen by some as the coolest (and conversely hottest) royal, a hunky hero with a compassionate heart (as witnessed by his energetic charitable work here and in Africa) and a natural charm. He has also impressed many people with his ability to talk about mental health issues.

Now, in Meghan, he has a new ally for the next stage of his transformation. But while the comparisons with Hal are striking, there are important differences. Harry is unlikely to turn his back on his friends or send his stepmother to prison for necromancy, which will be a relief for Camilla. But the biggest difference of all is that Harry is only sixth in line.

“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,” says Hal’s father in Henry IV Part Two. And for all his changes, and the leading role he is clearly going to take in the soap that is the House of Windsor, it is clearly an enormous relief to Harry that unlike his namesake, he will never have to be king.

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