Arienne Thompson and Jolie Lee

USA TODAY

The most famous royal redhead turns 30 on Sept. 15, 2014. In the spotlight from day one, we follow his transformation from cherub-faced youth to young man of military service and philanthropic work.

A prince is born

Princess Diana holds baby Prince Harry with Prince William in the foreground in 1984.

In a 2007 interview with NBC, Prince Harry shared his thoughts about what his mother would think about the lives he and his brother were living: "I think she'd be happy in the way that we're going about it but slightly unhappy about the way the other people were going about it as in saying, 'Look: you're not normal, so stop trying to be normal,' which is very much what we get a lot."

He added: "You've got certain responsibilities. which obviously we do and we know we have certain responsibilities. But within our private lives and within certain other parts of our life we want to be as normal as possible. And yes it's hard because to a certain respect we never will be normal."

Childhood

The Prince and Princes of Wales are shown with their sons, Prince Harry and Prince William in the Sicily Islands in June 1989. Seven years after this photo was taken, the couple would divorce.

Princes Diana's death

Prince Harry was 12 years old when his mother died.

"It's weird because I think when she passed away there was never that time, there was never that sort of lull," he has said about her death. "There was never that sort of peace and quiet for any of us due to the fact that her face was always splattered on the paper the whole time."

Pictured, Prince Charles accepts flowers from well-wishers after he and his sons Prince William, center, arrive at Kensington Palace to view tributes left in memory of their mother, Princess Diana, in London on Sept. 5, 1997.

Nazi controversy

In 2005, Harry apologized after he wore Nazi attire and an armband with a swastika to a birthday party in England.

But his apology didn't appease Jewish leaders, who had also called for Prince Harry to join a British delegation trip to Auschwitz for the 60th anniversary of the concentration camp's liberation. The prince declined to go on the trip.

Prince Charles remarries

Eight years after Diana's death, Prince Charles remarried, wedding Camilla Parker Bowles on April 9, 2005.

By this time, the young princes had emerged as handsome, athletic young men interested in military service and sport. In 2005, Harry entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to begin his military training for the British army.

Military services

Prince Harry served in Afghanistan as a member of the British army, but his service on the front lines was interrupted after press leaks compromised his security. In 2011, Harry traveled to Arizona and California to complete his helicopter training.

The Feb.18, 2008, file photo is of Prince Harry, as he sits atop a military vehicle in the Helmand province, Southern Afghanistan.

Prince William marries

The younger siblings of Prince William and Kate Middleton managed to steal the show during the couple's highly anticipated wedding on April 29, 2011.

Rumors soared that Harry and Pippa Middleton, both attractive and fun-loving, had struck up a romance. But he squashed the gossip last summer.

"Pippa? Ha! No, I am not seeing anyone at the moment. I'm 100 percent single," he told a group of concertgoers in London. "I'm working a lot at the moment, so dating and watching TV are the last things I have time for."

Solo tour

Prince Harry embarked on his first official solo tour, hitting the Caribbean, Latin America and South America as a royal ambassador in celebration of his grandmother's Diamond Jubilee. Harry struck a pose with Olympic track star Usain Bolt during his stop in Jamaica on March 6, 2012.

Diamond Jubilee

He cleans up nice! Prince Harry (far right) stands with his family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the final ceremonial day of the Queens Diamond Jubilee on June 5, 2012.

The event marked the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

The family includes, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, left, Charles, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

Vegas-style

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? Not for Prince Harry.

On Aug. 21, 2012, nude photos of the prince hit the Web, apparently after a party-filled weekend in Las Vegas.

In one shot, Prince Harry is seen completely nude, save for his hands covering his crotch as a naked woman embraces him from behind. In another, he embraces a woman from behind, baring his rear end to the camera.

The British royal family had no comment on the photos but warned the country's newspapers not to publish the nude photographs of Prince Harry.

South Pole trek

Prince Harry ... the adventurer?

The royal joined a team of British, Canadian and American wounded warriors in a 10-day, 130-mile race across Antarctica in December 2013.

The effort was to raise money for wounded warrior groups. And if you want to catch every blustery (and blistery) moment of the trek, the details are in the documentary Prince Harry's South Pole Heroes, which aired on NBC.

Wounded warriors

Prince Harry continues his work with wounded warriors. The prince was so inspired after attending the Warrior Games in Denver in 2013 that he launched a similar event in Britain.

The Invictus Games are a Paralympic-style competition for wounded, injured and sick service members. Pictured, Prince Harry celebrates with Great Britain's David Henson after the latter won the 200m men race on Sept. 11, 2014.