All change for Harry

So he probably won’t be among the first people to visit the newest member of the House of Cambridge. Prince Harry is off to Australia this weekend for his secondment to the country’s defence forces. The prince will spend four weeks there with several different detachments and when he returns he will have a new niece or nephew to meet. But this next month also marks a very subtle shift in the royal life of Henry Charles Albert David of Wales.

Prince Harry will serve in Australia for four weeks before leaving the Army

Because when he returns, he will also have dropped one place in the line of succession. Captain Harry Wales, as he is known in the Armed Forces, steps on to the plane that takes him to Australia as number four in waiting but when he touches back down in the UK at the end of his time with the ADF he will be number five behind a baby who will already be among the most famous people in the world. As one part of Harry’s life ends, so another is beginning.

William, Kate and Harry will all have very different roles in the Royal Family of the future

His time in the Army was mostly spent as a spare in waiting. As he leaves, he is a spare no longer. William may well be the heir to the heir but in just a few weeks’ time the Duke of Cambridge will have an heir and a spare of his own. Which in many ways gives Harry far more freedom than he has had so far. There is no longer any real possibility that he will one day be king. As he steps out of the Army he really can create his own royal role as he thinks appropriate.

Henry Charles Albert David, born third in line to the throne, and about to drop to number five

And while a decade ago, some might have wobbled at the idea of Harry making his own way in the world given his then reputation for partying and, well, partying his time in the Army has turned him into a bit of a global icon. The man can’t stop topping appreciation and popularity polls while his work on the Invictus Games really showed a serious and determined side that won him fans around the world. His respect for all those who have served their countries shines through and will be seen over the coming month – his time in Australia starts at that country’s war memorial where he will lay a wreath and the four weeks will also include a visit to Turkey to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings there on April 25^th.

The Invictus Games won Harry fans around the world

He might not get all the headlines that day – rumour has it that that very date is the one marked on the maternity notes of a certain duchess as the most likely for baby number two to arrive. But his work won’t go unnoticed and is sure to win him even more respect. And the fact that this rather important engagement in the life of Harry Wales might well be overshadowed by the appearance of baby Cambridge mark two is perhaps a perfect summary of what the prince’s royal future brings. Family happiness, hard work and a role just a little further away from the nucleus of the future of the House of Windsor.