PRINCE HARRY is to mark his forthcoming 18th birthday by embarking on a busy schedule of voluntary work aimed at reminding the public of his late mother's commitment to charitable causes.
The Prince, who comes of age next Sunday, will this week visit hospital patients and the homeless, as well as working on two other schemes involving young offenders and health improvements in the Third World.
Prince Harry took the decision last weekend to do something that would evoke fond memories of Diana, Princess of Wales after media coverage of the fifth anniversary of his mother's death was dominated by tasteless "revelations" about her private life rather than her tireless work for charities.
The Prince of Wales has encouraged his younger son to highlight the Princess's work and, according to aides, has provided "the mechanism" to enable Prince Harry to mark his 18th birthday in a positive way.
"The Prince of Wales is absolutely thrilled at Prince Harry's decision and could not have been more encouraging," said one of Prince Charles's most senior and trusted aides.
Senior officials at St James's Palace, where the Prince has his private office, have been asked to help organise Prince Harry's itinerary for the coming week. It will begin on Wednesday when he joins Prince Charles - as the Queen's representative - at St Paul's Cathedral for a service to mark the first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on America.
Afterwards Prince Harry will meet the relatives of Britons who died in New York and Washington a year ago: a move that will inevitably lead to him being seen as the "Prince of Hearts".
Later in the week Prince Harry will visit Great Ormond Street Hospital for sick children in central London. In 1996, when the Princess of Wales gave up all but six of her charity roles, she remained the president of the hospital. Two years earlier, in 1994, she had broken her self-imposed withdrawal from public life to open new wards at the hospital. The Princess also retained her links with Centrepoint, the London charity for the homeless. Prince Harry intends to work with the homeless this week, although he is expected to link up with a different London-based charity.
The senior aide to Prince Charles said: "For more than a year now, it has bothered Harry that, in such a short time, many people seem to have forgotten about his mother's charity work.
"The last straw came when much of the media coverage of the fifth anniversary of her death further eroded what Diana was and what she stood for."
Prince Harry was particularly upset that one Sunday broadsheet marked the anniversary by paying a six-figure sum to Ken Wharfe, the Princess's former protection officer, for serialisation rights to a book that betrayed her trust and disclosed tittle-tattle about her extramarital relationships.
The aide to Prince Charles said: "Prince Harry has said, `I want to do something that evokes memories of mummy's charity work'. Harry, more than William, wears his heart on his sleeve and has been very upset by some of the recent media coverage about his mother."
The aide added: "He wants to do something that is tough, cutting-edge and challenging. A lot of people look at Prince William and compare him in looks to his mother but, in reality, it is Harry who is more like his mother in many ways. Like his father, Prince William's future role is clearly defined but Harry, like his mother, needs to find a pathway for himself that is fulfilling and makes a contribution to society.
"Harry is his mother's son and he wants to carry on his mother's mantle. His mission is to remind people of some of the good things that she did and how she took on `lost' causes that other people wanted nothing to do with."
Prince Harry is aware, however, that it would be inappropriate to take on identical roles to his late mother who, until 1996, was patron or president of more than 100 charities.
The Princess was, perhaps, best-known for her links to the campaign for the abolition of landmines and her work with Aids and leprosy sufferers.
On Friday Mario Testino, the Princess of Wales's favourite photographer, took portrait photographs of Prince Harry at Eton. The photographs will be released this week and those using them will pay a fee to charity. Prince Harry is still deciding which one should benefit from the payments.
Senior aides at St James's Palace hope the week will mark the start of rehabilitation of Prince Harry after the most difficult year of his life. It was revealed in January that Prince Harry had been illegally experimenting with cannabis and participating in under-age drinking with his friends.
Prince Harry will not hold an 18th birthday party for friends and family. This year he intends to work hard on his studies at Eton after failing to reach his potential last term.
Because of school commitments in his final year at Eton, Prince Harry's commitment to charity work will be sporadic over the coming months.
He will not, for the moment at least, become patron or president of charities that his mother supported.
However he, along with Prince William, is, likely to attend a charity dinner at St James's Palace in November to raise money for people with HIV and Aids.
Prince Charles is hosting the dinner for the Terrence Higgins Trust Lighthouse, the charity formed from the merger of two Aids charities, London Lighthouse and the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Officials at St James's Palace say Prince Harry is full of remorse for the embarrassment that his behaviour caused the Royal Family earlier this year.
"Harry is a typical teenager, who is a little bit lacking in confidence but in an endearing way," said one Palace official.
"He is aware that he will always be in his elder brother's shadow but he is the funnier, cheekier of the two, who loves a prank and who loves to tease people. Like his mother, Harry always sees the funny side of everything."
