HARRY'S BIG DAY - ‘HE COULDN'T BE THE PARTY PRINCE FOREVER'

AS HE CELEBRATES TURNING OK! DISCOVERS WHY THE DUKE OF SUSSEX’S FIRST BIRTHDAY AS A NON-ROYAL WILL BE A PARTICULARLY POIGNANT OCCASION THIS MONTH

- MICHELLE GARNETT

The Duke of Sussex is looking forward to marking his 36th birthday as he settles into his new life in sunny California. His celebrations on 15 September in the company of his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and their one-year-old son, Archie, are sure to be filled with love and joy. But there will also be a degree of sadness to Harry’s special day, as his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was the same age when she lost her life in that fatal car crash in Paris.

“I imagine it will be quite poignant and significant for Harry that he’s the same age as his own mother was when she died,” royal commentator Katie Nicholl tells OK!. “Diana had achieved such a huge amount by her 36th birthday. She’d shaken up the monarchy, rewritten the rule book and become the most successful and loved philanthropist on the planet. When Harry was 18, he vowed to continue the work his mother had started, so I think he’ll probably be asking himself on his birthday this year, ‘Have I achieved that at 36?’”

Ever since stepping away from senior royal life earlier this year, Harry’s been based in America with Meghan and Archie. The trio are now ensconced in their ‘forever home’ in the celebrity enclave of Montecito, Santa Barbara, a 90-minute drive north of Los Angeles.

“Harry’s 36th birthday will be very different from any past birthdays,” points out Katie. “He’s in a new country, living a completely different life. This will also be his first birthday as a nonroyal. That’s probably going to be quite a defining moment for him.”