Like hundreds of school pupils up and down the country at the moment, as a student, Prince Harry was counting down the days until he could finish his A Levels.

During his time at the prestigious Eton College, Harry reportedly struggled to fit in despite being one of the most famous pupils at the public school.

On top of this Harry was plagued by poor grades at Eton and was always in the lowest set. 

His bad academic performance would come back to haunt Harry when he faced the devastating prospect of retaking his A Levels.

According to royal insider Katie Nicholl, Harry was more ‘interested in having fun than knuckling down’ so it was no great surprise when the Prince failed two of his AS Levels at the start of his final year which meant Eton ‘insisted’ he joined the year below.

While the Prince left school with his cohort of pupils, Harry still faced the humiliation of having to drop History of Art.

‘But even that didn’t prove sufficient motivation for Harry to start working,’ Nicholls wrote.

Harry left Eton in August 2003 with a B in art and a D in Geography and while the then Prince Charles said he was ‘very proud’ of the results and that his son had ‘worked hard for these examinations’, rather than revising Harry spent a lot of his time making mischief.

Harry in his dorm room at school. During his time at the prestigious Eton College, Harry reportedly struggled to fit in despite being the most famous pupil at the public school at the time

Harry in his dorm room at school. During his time at the prestigious Eton College, Harry reportedly struggled to fit in despite being the most famous pupil at the public school at the time

Harry playing sport at Eton. The Prince found it hard to settle in at Eton but he did eventually make friends who he would join for a cigarette under Windsor bridge

Harry playing sport at Eton. The Prince found it hard to settle in at Eton but he did eventually make friends who he would join for a cigarette under Windsor bridge

Best selling author, journalist and broadcaster Katie Nicholl has been writing about the British royal family for nearly two decades

Best selling author, journalist and broadcaster Katie Nicholl has been writing about the British royal family for nearly two decades

Katie Nicholl's book, The Making Of a Royal Romance talks in length about Harry's unhappy school days at Eton

Katie Nicholl’s book, The Making Of a Royal Romance talks in length about Harry’s unhappy school days at Eton

Nicholls wrote, in her Royal biography The Making of a Royal Romance, that weeks before his exams Harry was a ‘regular guest at Highgrove’ and he ‘sneaked off to the Royal Berkshire Polo Club’.

The teenage Prince even took up ‘mooning’ which allegedly sparked a major security alert.

Soon the press caught wind of Harry’s antics and it became a frontpage story. 

But despite the sensation Harry was causing in the press he was not spurred into studying.

‘It seemed that no matter how many times he had his wrists slapped, Harry would not learn,’ said Nicholls.

Harry was particularly candid about his time at Eton in his autobiography Spare, describing his arrival at the £21,000 per term school as a ‘shock’.

The Prince found it hard to settle in at Eton but he did eventually make friends who he would join for a cigarette under Windsor Bridge.

Harry wrote: ‘I took every cig offered me, and in the same automatic, unthinking way, I soon graduated to weed.’

Prince Harry with his mother and father - Prince Charles and Princess Diana - during Prince William's first day at Eton in 1995

Prince Harry with his mother and father – Prince Charles and Princess Diana – during Prince William’s first day at Eton in 1995 

Harry on his first day at Eton. He was particularly candid about his time at Eton in his autobiography Spare, describing his arrival at the £21,000 per term school as a 'shock'

Harry on his first day at Eton. He was particularly candid about his time at Eton in his autobiography Spare, describing his arrival at the £21,000 per term school as a ‘shock’

Prince Harry during an art lesson at Eton. Harry left school in August 2003 with a B in art

Prince Harry during an art lesson at Eton. Harry left school in August 2003 with a B in art

Prince Harry clenches his fist as he leaves Eton College for the last time in June 2003

Prince Harry clenches his fist as he leaves Eton College for the last time in June 2003

The Duke of Sussex also revealed candid details about his time smoking marijuana while at Eton. 

‘Smoker straddled the loo beside the window, second boy leaned against the basin, third and fourth boys sat in the empty bath, legs dangling over, waiting their turns. 

‘You’d take a hit or two, blow the smoke out of the window, then move on to the next station, in rotation, until the spliff was gone,’ Harry said.

Despite his academically poor performance, Harry received a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where the Prince completed his training to become an army officer. 

After leaving Sandhurst, Prince Harry served in Afghanistan after much debate over whether to send the young royal to the war zone.

He was first deployed to Helmand province as a forward air controller in 2007, but his first tour of duty was cut short when an Australian magazine broke a media embargo by mistake.

However, he returned in 2012 with the Ministry of Defence publicising his second deployment on the understanding that the media would allow him to get on with the job at hand.

In his memoir the Duke of Sussex revealed that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, when he flew an Apache attack helicopter.

The Prince of Wales with his youngest son Prince Harry, as he registers at Eton college. Following his A Levels, Prince Charles said he was 'very proud' of the results and that his son had 'worked hard for these examinations'

The Prince of Wales with his youngest son Prince Harry, as he registers at Eton college. Following his A Levels, Prince Charles said he was ‘very proud’ of the results and that his son had ‘worked hard for these examinations’

Prince Harry learning the ropes at Sandhurst Military Academy

Prince Harry learning the ropes at Sandhurst Military Academy

Harry during his military training at Sandhurst Military Academy where the Prince completed his training to become an army officer

Harry during his military training at Sandhurst Military Academy where the Prince completed his training to become an army officer

Harry, who was known as ‘Captain Wales’ in the military, wrote that he did not think of those killed ‘as people’ but instead ‘chess pieces removed from the board’… ‘bad guys eliminated’.

This was the first time that Harry, now 40, had specified the number of insurgents he had personally killed during his time in Afghanistan.

While many soldiers do not know how many enemies they have killed in combat, the Duke wrote in Spare that ‘in the era of Apaches and laptops’ he was able to say ‘with exactness’ the number of insurgents he killed.

During Harry’s 2012 tour, he also helped provide helicopter support to the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan forces operating throughout Helmand province.

Based out of Camp Bastion, 662 Squadron Army Air Corps, to which he belonged, flew more than a hundred missions over 2,500 flying hours, providing surveillance, deterrence and, when required, close combat attack capabilities as well as escort duties for other aircraft.

Captain Wales, who qualified as a co-pilot gunner in February 2012, was posted to 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, to gain further flying experience and to operate the Apache on a number of exercises before deploying to Afghanistan in September 2012.

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