The “fun” one! Prince Harry first became an uncle in July 2013 when brother Prince William and his wife, Princess Kate, welcomed their eldest son, Prince George.
“Willy and Kate had welcomed their first child, George, and he was beautiful,” the Duke of Sussex recalled of his brother’s firstborn in his Spare memoir, which was published in January 2023. “I couldn’t wait to teach him about rugby and [The Battle of] Rorke’s Drift, flying and corridor cricket — and maybe give him a few pointers about how to survive life in the fishbowl.”
Harry — who detailed his life as a senior member of the royal family until his 2020 step-down with wife Meghan Markle in the book — also mentioned his relationship with the Prince of Wales’ three children with Kate: George, Princess Charlotte, born in May 2015, and Prince Louis, born in April 2018.
“I was delighted for Willy and Kate, and I was indifferent to my place in the order of succession,” the BetterUp CIO —who married the Suits alum in May 2018 — wrote in Spare, referring to the royal order of succession.
King Charles III, who ascended the throne after the September 2022 death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, and late ex-wife Princess Diana welcomed sons William and Harry in June 1982 and September 1984, respectively. As the Duke of Cornwall is the firstborn, he immediately became his father’s direct heir — which made Harry the “spare.”
While the Archewell cofounder often felt inadequate behind his brother, he never felt that way about his nieces and nephews.
“[It’s] fantastic to have another addition to the family,” Harry previously gushed to the BBC in July 2013 of George’s arrival. “[My goal as an uncle is] to make sure he has a good upbringing, and keep him out of harm’s way and to make sure he has fun. The rest I’ll leave to the parents.”
While the California resident — who shares son Archie, born in May 2019, and daughter Lilibet, born in June 2021, with Meghan — loved doting on his niece and nephews, their bond hit a snag in 2020 after Harry and the Bench author moved away from England. A source later exclusively told Us Weekly in May 2022 that the military veteran “very much” missed George, Charlotte and Louis after his stateside move.
While the Harry & Meghan stars have put distance between themselves and the royal family, Harry remains wary about the royal children’s future.
“As I know full well — within my family — if it’s not [me and my brother], it’s going to be someone else,” the Invictus Games founder told The Telegraph in a January 2023 interview of his fallout with the Duke of Cambridge. “And though William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility, I still feel a responsibility knowing that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the ‘spare.’”
Scroll below for Harry’s ups and downs with his nephews and niece through the years: