It helps to have friends in high places when you're promoting an athletic event.
That's certainly the case for Prince Harry, who released a video on Friday promoting the upcoming Invictus Games for wounded veterans.
The cast includes his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, and Barack and Michelle Obama, who were dinner guests of Harry's last week.
In his most revealing series of interviews yet, Prince Harry has spoken of his struggles to find a partner, his difficulties in filling the "gaping void" left by his mother and his turmoil at the scrutiny which dominates his life.
However, the 31-year-old - speaking during the launch of his brainchild, the Invictus Games, in Florida - says he is focused on work over his love life.... until Prince George, his nephew, starts making him look "boring".
PRIVACY
Harry said the Royal Family is "completely aware that we are in a very privileged position", but criticised "incessant" intrusions.
During interviews with the BBC and Sunday Times, the prince admitted "massive paranoia" about even talking to women, because of the ferocious attention.
"Even if I talk to a girl, that person is then suddenly my wife, and people go knocking on her door," he said.
Harry added: "Everyone has a right to their privacy, and a lot of the members of the public get it, but sadly in some areas there is this incessant need to find out every little bit of detail about what goes on behind the scene; It's unnecessary."
GIRLFRIENDS
The intense public interest surrounding failed relationships with Cressida Bonas and Chelsy Davy has concerned Harry.
"If or when I do find a girlfriend, I will do my utmost... to ensure that me and her can get to the point where we're actually comfortable with each other before the massive invasion that is inevitably going to happen into her privacy," he said.
"To be fair, I haven't had that many opportunities to get out there and meet people. At the moment, my focus is very much on work. But if someone slips into my life then that's absolutely fantastic." The kind of life that most people take for granted is simply not an option.
"When people finish work in the City or wherever work is, if you want to have a bit of downtime, you might go to the pub with your mates," he said. "I do that less, because it's not downtime for me...I don't know who I'm going to bump into, I don't know if someone's going to try and grab a selfie, I don't know who's going to be waiting outside. So there is very little private life."
Harry says he is still "trying to fill an unbelievable pair of boots" left by the death of her mother in a Paris car crash in 1997. Photo / File
DIANA AND HER LEGACY
Harry says he is still "trying to fill an unbelievable pair of boots" left by the death of his mother in a Paris car crash in 1997.
"What you see is what you get with me," he said. "It's genuine. I will always try and bring an element of fun and happiness to everything I do. That probably is subconsciously very much a part of my mother - trying to fill that void. Trying to fill an unbelievable pair of boots, whether it's her... or especially the Queen. It's a hard thing to do."
Harry added: "There's this gaping void, not just in mine and William's lives, but there's a huge gaping void in a lot of other people's lives too," Harry said. "She's got a lot of unfinished business."
Image 1 of 12: Prince Charles and Princess Diana With The Newly Born Prince Harry Outside The Lindo Wing. Photo / Getty Images
Harry is now resolutely continuing campaigning against Aids, an issue close to his mother's heart. "She smashed the stigma around HIV on more than one occasion. It had a huge impact, and . . . a huge impact on my life as well."
JOB
The prince indicated he is bothered by his playboy image and criticism that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh carried out more official engagements than him, William and Kate combined.
"I thought long and hard about getting a job," he said. "I did 10 years in the army - best job in the world. I wanted to be valued in society in that sense.... I don't get any satisfaction from sitting at home on my arse - and that's a body part by the way, not a swear word."
His efforts to find a full-time job have been hampered by the difficulty of combining a profession with other royal duties.
"The reality is that most of the areas that I looked at . . . just simply weren't going to work. Some jobs are not even on the table, sadly."
He added: "I just hope that people read this article and go, 'You know, fair enough, he's digging out blind [military slang for making an all-out effort], he's doing the best he can.' I need to earn more respect from a lot more people, of course I do."
Harry is keen to become a rugby coach and next year will build what aides call "a more formal role" in championing sport.
Prince Harry says his efforts to find a full-time job have been hampered by the difficulty of combining a profession with other royal duties. Photo / File
TOLL TAKEN BY ARMY
"I do miss the army," Harry said. "It was a hideaway, which was great and something that I needed at that time of my life. It teaches you courage, discipline, respect for others, the value of friendships, respect for the monarchy."
However, However, he said one of the reasons he left the army was because royal duties had begun to increase "and I felt unsafe flying that aircraft and not being as up-to-date and as able and skilled as everybody else". He disclosed that his service has ravaged parts of his body.
"I've actually been receiving a bit of medical care on my body, which has basically been ruined over the last 10 years of army service."
CARING FOR VETERANS
Harry's army experience made him a passionate campaigner for veterans' causes, most notably launching the Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style sporting event for wounded and injured servicemen and women in 2014. The 2016 event started on Sunday in Orlando, Florida.
But when asked whether he thinks enough is being done for veterans, he said: "No, I don't think enough's being done. Of course the government could do more." Harry, also described concern at cuts to the military, also works with his brother William and sister-in-law Kate - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - on the Heads Together mental health campaign, which focuses on the "invisible injuries" suffered by former military personnel.
HIS DARKEST HOUR
In 2008, the prince was pulled out of Afghanistan during his first tour when the Australian media blew his cover. He described the ordeal as "really dark, really bad times", racked with guilt.
"To be pulled out, leaving your blokes behind . . . was one of the darkest moments of my life," he said. "Not knowing if I was going to get a phone call saying 'three of your blokes have just been blown up after you left Afghanistan'. And that was completely out of my control."
PLAYING POLO
Harry admits getting "a little bit of grief" for playing the elite past-time. "I know it doesn't look great, riding round playing polo, but it is the best form of raising that much money for so many charities." On a charity outing in South Africa last year, Harry said "fell off twice on my head".
However, he is saddened younger generations are on computers instead of outside playing sport. "I had an imagination . . . now it's like, 'There's an iPad, off you go'. It's all created for you. All you have to do is press buttons. That worries me."
Prince Harry believes he'll become boring now that his nephew Prince George is hogging headlines with his sister Charlotte. Photo / AP
GEORGE AND CHARLOTTE
Harry believes he might become "boring" now Prince George and Princess Charlotte, his nephew and niece, are beginning to hog royal headlines.
"I'm in this privileged position and I will use it for as long as I can, or until I become boring, or until George ends up becoming more interesting," he laughed. Yet he loves his role of uncle.
"You know what it's like [with other people's children] - it's great and then when they start crying it's like, 'Here, have them back!'"
