IT was a harrowing image - a boy not yet 13 walking solemnly behind his mother's coffin, draped in the Royal Standard on a horse-drawn gun-carriage. Flanked by his brother, father and uncle, Prince Harry was forced to endure his private grief in full public glare.

For the millions lining the route or watching on television the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, sympathy for the prince and his brother mingled with admiration at their stoic bearing during that long, painful procession.

In the five years since his mother's death, while Harry has matured considerably, he has found it difficult to break out of his brother's shadow. But the milestone of his 18th birthday tomorrow provides an opportunity to come into his own.

Harry was born at 4.20pm on September 15, 1984, weighing 6lb 14oz, at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. He was christened Henry Charles Albert David, but is known affectionately as Harry, unless, as his brother once said, he is ''being naughty''.

Like his brother, Prince Harry started his education at Mrs Mynor's nursery school in west London, beginning the day after his third birthday, and at five he went on to Wetherby School in Kensington.

An outgoing little boy, he carried out his first public engagement at the age of eight when he joined his mother on a visit to the base of the Light Dragoons in Germany.

The death of his mother struck Harry deeply. He still talks about her a great deal with close friends and family. The tragedy strengthened the already close bond with William. The pair also moved closer to their father, the Prince of Wales. Diana was always anxious that her two sons should be treated equally.

Harry followed his brother to Eton College, delighting his family that he had passed the entrance exam, after having to repeat his final year at prep school. Last year at Eton, Harry won 11 GCSEs: six As, three Bs and two Cs.

He is artistic, witty, writes well and is a keen sportsman. He skis, shoots and plays polo and golf, and enjoys watching rugby and football, his favourite team being Arsenal.

Harry is said to be an amusing young man with a lively mind. But while William has become a pin-up to millions of teenage girls, his younger brother has often been overshadowed.

All that changed earlier this year, albeit for the wrong reasons, with revelations of Harry's after-hours drinking at the Rattlebone Inn, near the Prince of Wales's Highgrove home, and smoking cannabis.

Recent weeks have seen Harry turn his attention to charity work, with a series of visits to individual projects, picking up the mantle of his mother. Perhaps this will give him an opportunity to carve out his own place in the world, away from the shadow of his brother.