Why was Prince Harry named Henry at birth but then became widely known as Harry?

[SecondSpare]

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, was born and christened with the name Henry Charles Albert David, but has long been known and referred to as Harry since his year of birth. I assume this is widely known by most MNers, but perhaps not amongst the general public. I have always wondered if not wanting to be called by his actual birth name was due to the notoriety of previous royal Henrys - particularly Henry VIII, perhaps the most notorious of all British monarchs. But if that was the case, why wasn't he given the name Harry from birth?

It wasn't his decision to be known as Harry. I remember when he was born the announcement was his name would be Henry but he would be known as Harry
I assume it's because Henry was an established Royal name and the heir to the throne always named their children old established names. I think tej Queen had to approve the chosen name.
Harry is less formal, was quite a trendy name at the time and would have appealed to Diana. it is also an established nickname for people called Henry.
They would never have christened him Harry I'm sure the Queen wouldn't have allowed it.

Why are there people named Matilda who get called Tilly from day one. Or Annabel who are known as Bella.

they’re just diminutives of real names

I'm going to be pedantic. They are diminutives.
What often happens is this.
Robert becomes Rob. From there it's not a great leap for the b to be added at the front too. If you say Rob really fast several times it becomes Bob.
Sometimes you get double diminutives. Nicolas for example, became Col, the three middle letters and after a while someone added 'in' to become Colin.
The original diminutive just changes over time so Elizabeth becomes Eliza which becomes Liz or Lizzy. Beth becomes Betty. We seem to like putting a ' y' at the end of names, I assume originally as a fond name for babies.
The diminutive of Richard was Dickon in medieval times.

I remember seeing some programme about his wives where he referred to himself in a letter to one of them as “your Harry”.

I remember when Prince Harry's birth was announced on the news. They said his name was Henry but he would be known as Harry.

I suspect Diana wanted Harry but Charles (and probably the Queen) insisted that being so close to the throne he had to have a traditional royal name.

I think it was reported that Diana wanted a 'Sloaney' name like Sebastian or Oliver.

@HelenaWilson correct on all counts!

Both Henry and Harry are 5 letters though. So how can Harry be 'short for' Henry. I've always thought it's stupid.

It does feel stupid when it's the same length word.

I know someone who was Betty and everyone assumed she was Elizabeth - sometimes she even received letters to Mrs E [surname] instead Mrs B. She didn't like Betty and would have much rather been called Elizabeth. In her shoes I would have changed it by deed poll but I guess people were more in thrall to their parents back then and by the time they died she didn't care anymore.

Not very bright Op?

He was definitely Henry known as Harry from birth. It is the sort of detail I paid great attention to aged six.

I have a Cissie (given name) in my family tree born in the 1890s. Cissie was named after her grandmother Elizabeth.

Very old stupid though. Guessing it just evolved from non-standard spelling/pronunciation.

Actually I just googled it and according to AI, it did. People often used a for e in the middle ages. Also the French ‘Henri’ was prounced ‘Arri’ by English speakers.

It's not short for Henry. It's a diminutive or nickname for Henry. Quite a few diminutives have the same or even more syllables than the original name: Bobby for Robert, Jimmy or Jamie for James, Charlie for Charles, and there are lots of others.

Perhaps someone read Five go to Mystery Moor, which has the character Henrietta, who wanted to be a boy, so she would only answer to Henry, or Harry to her very best friends!

Try shouting it out as if calling a child or a dog.

Also as PP said it is alo used to distinguish between family members with the same given name.

My dad was Henry on his birth certificate but always known as Harry, it was extremely common for that to happen, greatly doubt it has anything to do with not wanting to be associated with the old king Henry’s

It's a nickname 😅

Already been said but because Harry is a diminutive of Henry and not traditionally a stand alone name.

Henry VIII was also called Harry I think? By his friends and family at least

Harry was christened Henry
Meghan’s name on her birth certificate is Rachel.
The name Archie is usually a nickname for Archibald. But in this case it’s not, afaik.
Lilibet was the nickname for QE2.

Why?

I’m old enough to remember his public birth announcement, and it included that he would be known as Harry.

Why what? Why would the RF never have gone for a nickname as an official name or why wouldn't I? Or as you asking both?

Same answer to both really though I suppose. An interest in tradition. A nickname not being "proper".

Wanting to keep the options open for the future. A Henry can call himself Harry or Hal. A Harry could request to be known as Henry but it would be far less common so going for Harry from the start removes that option.

You had already said about why the RF would go with tradition so obviously I wasn't asking about that. Your reason is the same.Interesting - my curiosity as I'm a bit name obsessed.