When Prince Harry was five! How the young royal was a pageboy at his uncle’s wedding just two days after his fifth birthday and had only just started prep school – as his son Archie celebrates the same milestone

As Prince Archie turns five today, he will likely be celebrating the milestone with his parents Harry and Meghan at their California mansion.

But the young royal’s special day might bring back memories for the Duke of Sussex, 39.

On September 15, 1989, Prince Harry turned five just days after starting at Wetherby preparatory school in Notting Hill, West London.

Two days after his fifth birthday, Harry was a page boy at the wedding of his uncle Earl Spencer, who was marrying Victoria Lockwood, his first wife. 

When he was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, Harry weighed 6lbs 14oz – less than Archie, who was 7lb 3oz.

Although he was born in Britain, Archie by contrast has grown up in America after his and Meghan’s decision to step back as working royals.

Two days after his fifth birthday, Harry was among the page boys at the wedding of his uncle Earl Spencer, who was marrying first wife Victoria Lockwood. He was seen with his cousins Alexander and Eleanor Fellowes dressed in an outfit based on Joshua Reynolds’ portrait of the third Earl Spencer

On September 15, 1989, Prince Harry turned five just days after starting at Wetherby preparatory school in Notting Hill, West London. Above: Harry with his brother Prince William and mother Princess Diana on his first day at Wetherby

But Harry’s early years were spent at Kensington Palace with his parents Charles and Diana and brother Prince William, who is just over two years older than him.

Pictures of Harry at five show him in his grey prep school uniform, on holiday with William and the Princess of Wales in the Caribbean and peering out of the window of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour.

Another image shows him and William joining their father at a polo match.

At his uncle’s wedding, he was seen with his cousin Alexander Fellowes dressed in an outfit based on Joshua Reynolds’ portrait of the third Earl Spencer.

That meant a cream silk shirt edged with gold, breeches and a burgundy sash for the high society nuptials at Althorp, the Spencer family’s estate in Northamptonshire.

As a five-year-old, Harry also enjoyed a visit to the headquarters of the Life Guards at Royal Windsor Barracks.

He was seen climbing on top of a tank whilst wearing his own miniature uniform and beret.

Harry, who was born Prince Henry Charles Albert David, made his public debut outside the Lindo Wing.

Prince Harry, aged five, on holiday on Necker Island in the Caribbean with his brother Prince William and mother Princess Diana, April 11, 1990

As a five-year-old, Harry also enjoyed a visit to the headquarters of the Life Guards at Royal Windsor Barracks

He was shown to the world while snuggled in his mother’s arms in a blanket.

A crowd of more than 1,000 cheered as Diana and Charles – then the Prince of Wales – waved before heading back to Kensington Palace. 

Less than an hour after ensuring his wife and baby son were safely home, Charles slipped away for a game of polo in Windsor. 

He said at the time: ‘William has taken to the new baby like a duck to water. It’s worth a guinea a minute watching him enjoy himself with the baby.

‘He’s been climbing in and out of his cot.’

However, Harry’s birth was was followed by the breakdown in his parents’ marriage.

Prince Harry on his way to the stables on the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk, on January 7, 1990

Prince Harry peers from a window in Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour in June 1990

Prince Harry with his family at the traditional Christmas Day church service at Sandringham in 1989

Five-year-old Prince Harry takes part in a sports lesson at Wetherby school in Richmond, May 2, 1990

Prince Harry with his brother Prince William and mother Princess Diana enjoying a day at Le Cirque du Soleil, August 1990

Diana, Princess of Wales and her son Prince Harry, walk with her mother Frances Shand Kydd and niece Eleanor Fellowes at the wedding rehearsal of her brother Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and Victoria Lockwood at St Mary’s Church on September 15, 1989

Prince Harry and Prince William join their father at a polo match in May 1990

Prince Harry riding a pony in January 1990. The young royal was then aged five

Prince Harry and Prince William with their mother Princess Diana as they leave for school

Not long after he was born rumours started to emerge about problems in Charles and Diana’s marriage.

The couple shared a distinctly awkward kiss at a 1985 polo match that Charles was competing in and by the following year, both were engaged in extramarital affairs. 

Charles was seeing Camilla, whilst Diana was romantically involved with James Hewitt, a Captain in the British Army. She had also had a fling with her protection officer, Barry Mannakee.

The couple separated in 1992 and divorced in August 1996 – a year before Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. 

Today, Archie celebrates his birthday thousands of miles away from most of his family. 

Speaking from Windsor on the day his son was born at The Portland Hospital, Prince Harry delightedly said that Archie’s birth was ‘the most amazing experience I could ever have possibly imagined.’ 

When he was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, Harry weighed 6lbs 14oz – less than Archie, who was 7lb 3oz

Princess Diana, dressed in a scarlet coat, carries her newborn son Prince Harry as she leaves St Mary’s Hospital

Prince Archie, who turns five today, seen with his parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and his younger sister Lilibet in 2021

Archie is seen sitting on his father’s shoulders in an image that was revealed in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary

Details of Archie’s gilded life in Montecito, California, with his younger sister Lilibet, two, were revealed in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary series last year.

He was seen chasing seagulls at the beach, helping his parents pick oranges in the garden and playing with his two beloved family dogs – Labrador Pula and a Beagle called Guy.

When Meghan was in labour at the private Portland Hospital, Harry revealed that he used the laughing gas meant for his wife to calm his nerves, and said the couple’s bodyguards delivered them a takeaway Nando’s.

The pair also listened to songs by German artist Deva Premal, who turned Sanskrit mantras into music, during the delivery.

When the contractions quickened, Meghan hopped in a bathtub to deliver the baby and had an epidural to help with the pain of labour.

Harry said he held Meghan’s hand as she pushed to deliver Archie, and revealed she had a complicated birth, describing his son’s head as being ‘tangled’.