There have been eight English kings called Henry - "Enrique" in Spanish.
The most notorious of these were Henry II, who had Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket murdered by his knights in Canterbury Cathedral .....
..... and Henry VIII, who famously had six wives and split England from the Roman Catholic Church, leading to the Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England.
King Henry VIII [Picture: Wikipedia]
This article
That’s the historical background for this article which is about modern day “Enriques/Henrys/Harrys”.
Here are my chosen eight in more or less chronological order.
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist and business magnate most famous in the world of motor cars.
As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automobiles affordable for middle-class Americans through the system thatcame to be known as Fordism.
In 1911, he was awarded a patent for the transmission mechanism that would be used in the Ford Model T and other automobiles.
Ford was born in a farmhouse in Springwells Township, Michigan, and left home at the age of 16 to find work in Detroit. It was a few years before this time that Ford first experienced automobiles, and throughout the latter half of the 1880s, he began repairing and later constructing engines, and through the 1890s worked with a division of Edison Electric.
He founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 after prior failures in business, but success in constructing. automobiles.
Henry Ford [Photo: Wikipedia]
The introduction of the Ford Model T automobile in 1908 is credited with having revolutionized both transportation and American industry. As the sole owner of the Ford Motor Company, Ford became one of the wealthiest people in the world.
He was also among the pioneers of the five-day working-week. Ford believed that consumerism could help to bring about world peace. His commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system, which allowed for car dealerships throughout North America and in major cities on six continents.
Personally I have owned several Ford cars in my nearly six decades of motoring: A Ford Anglia, a Fiesta, a Cortina, a Mondeo, a Galaxy and a Focus. Hire cars I have enjoyed include a Ford Kuga and a Ford Puma*.
I recall that the Fiesta and the Focus were my favourites.
Harry Belafonte
A famous black American singer, he is most famous for the Banana Boat song.
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Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s.
Belafonte's career breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.
Belafonte was best known for his recordings of "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)", "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)", "Jamaica Farewell", and "Mary's Boy Child".
He is one of the few performers to have received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT), although he won the Oscar in a non-competitive category.
Harry Belafonte [Photo: Wikipedia]
Harry Belafonte - Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) (Live)
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist. He served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th national security advisor from 1969 to 1975, serving in the presidential administrations of both Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Born in Germany, Kissinger emigrated to the United States in 1938 as a Jewish refugee fleeing Nazi persecution. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he attended Harvard University, where he excelled academically.
He later became a professor of government at the university and earned an international reputation as an expert on nuclear weapons and foreign policy. He acted as a consultant to government agencies, think tanks, and the presidential campaigns of Nelson Rockefeller and Nixon before being appointed as national security advisor and later secretary of state by President Nixon.
Henry Kissinger [Photo: New York Times]
An advocate of a pragmatic approach to geopolitics known as Realpolitik, Kissinger pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, orchestrated an opening of relations with China, engaged in "shuttle diplomacy" in the Middle East to end the Yom Kippur War, and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords, which ended American involvement in the Vietnam War.
For his role in negotiating the accords, he was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, which sparked controversy. Kissinger is also associated with controversial U.S. policies including its bombing of Cambodia, involvement in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, support for Argentina's military junta in its Dirty War, support for Indonesia in its invasion of East Timor, and support for Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War and Bangladesh genocide.
Considered by many American scholars to have been an effective secretary of state, Kissinger was also accused by critics of war crimes for the civilian death toll of the policies he pursued and for his role in facilitating U.S. support for authoritarian regimes.
After leaving government, Kissinger founded Kissinger Associates, an international geopolitical consulting firm which he ran from 1982 until his death. He authored over a dozen books on diplomatic history and international relations.
His advice was sought by American presidents of both major political parties.
Henry Cooper
Sir Henry Cooper OBE KSG (3 May 1934 – 1 May 2011) was a British heavyweight boxer. He was undefeated in British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship contests for 12 years and held the European heavyweight title for three years.
In a 1963 fight against a young Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali), he knocked Clay down in Round 4, before the fight was stopped in Round 5 because of a cut to Cooper's eye.
In 1966 he fought Ali for a second time. Ali was then world heavyweight champion. However, Cooper got TKO'd again.
Cooper was twice voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year and, after retiring in 1971 following a controversial loss to Joe Bugner, remained a popular public figure.
He is the only British boxer to have been awarded a knighthood.
Henry Cooper with Cassius Clay [Wikipedia]
Harry Carpenter
Harry Leonard Carpenter, OBE (17 October 1925 –
20 March 2010) was a British BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing.
He was presenter of programmes such as Sportsnight (1975–1985) and Grandstand and also anchored coverage of Wimbledon and golf tournaments.
Carpenter was the son of a wholesale fish merchant at Billingsgate Market and was born at South Norwood in South London. He attended Selhurst Grammar School in Surrey.
During World War II, he served as a telegrapher in the Royal Navy. Upon leaving the Navy after the end of World War II, he began his journalism career in 1946. He began sports reporting as a sub-editor for several national newspapers. He was an avid supporter of Crystal Palace FC, the local team in South Norwood.
Frank Bruno and Harry Carpenter [The Telegraph]
He joined the BBC in 1949 and was the corporation's full-time boxing correspondent from 1962 until his retirement in 1994. He served as a boxing columnist for the Sporting Record from 1950 to 1954. He then worked for the Daily Mail as a boxing writer and sports columnist from 1954 to 1962.
While writing for the national papers, Carpenter broadcast regularly on radio and television, covering thousands of professional and amateur fights including all Olympic Games from 1956 until 1992. He wrote three books about boxing, produced the documentary, The Richest Prize in Sport, and served as the voice of the Hall of Fame series, Sports Archive and Great Moments in Sport.
Carpenter described the end of the historic boxing fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in Zaire, in 1974, a fight which became known as "The Rumble in the Jungle", as "the most extraordinary few seconds that I have ever seen in a boxing ring".
“And suddenly Ali looks very tired indeed. In fact, Ali at times now looks as though he can hardly lift his arms up ... Oh, he's got him with a right hand! He's got him! Oh, you can't believe it – and he's doing his shuffle! And I don't think Foreman's going to get up ... he's trying to beat the count ... and he's out! Oh my God, he's won the title back at 32!”
While occasionally given to raising his voice, as he did when Ali knocked out Foreman or when Barry McGuigan floored Eusebio Pedroza in 1985, Carpenter was widely regarded as unflappable and a great professional.
Carpenter's rapport with former WBC World Heavyweight Champion Frank Bruno was well known. Carpenter often conducted post-match interviews with Bruno, whose catchphrase was "know what I mean, 'Arry?".
Over the course of his career, Carpenter was recognised as "The Voice of Boxing". While his name was most often associated with boxing, Carpenter established himself as one of Britain's most versatile sportscasters, covering many of the major sporting events. He was a presenter of Sportsnight between 1975 and 1985 and a regular member of the broadcast team on Grandstand.
He covered all major golf tournaments from 1965 until his retirement. He also served as commentator on the Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race, and greyhound racing. He anchored coverage of Wimbledon for the BBC from 1967 until 1993.
Carpenter was appointed OBE in the 1991 New Year Honours.
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian. He is known in particular for his television work, including Harry Enfield's Television Programme and Harry & Paul, and for the creation and portrayal of comedy characters such as Kevin the Teenager, Loadsamoney, Smashie and Nicey, The Scousers, Tim Nice-But-Dim and Mr "You Don't Want to Do It Like That".
Born in Horsham, Sussex, he is the eldest of four children (and only son) of English television, radio and newspaper journalist and presenter Edward Enfield and his wife, Deirdre Jenkins.
He was educated at the independent Arundale School in Pulborough, Dorset House School, Worth School, Collyer's Sixth Form College (all in West Sussex) and the University of York, where he was a member of Derwent College and studied politics. He squatted in Hackney and worked for a while as a milkman.
Enfield first came to wide public attention when appearing on Channel 4's Saturday Live as several different characters created with Paul Whitehouse. These quickly entered the national consciousness.
Among these characters were Stavros, a Greek kebab shop owner with fractured English; and Loadsamoney, an obnoxious plasterer who constantly boasted about how much money he earned.
The Loadsamoney character was created in reaction to the policies of the Thatcher government of the day, and took on a life of its own, sampling the songs "Money, Money" from the musical Cabaret and "Money, Money, Money" by ABBA to spawn a hit single in 1988 and a sell-out live tour.
Enfield as Loadsamoney [British Comedy Guide]
In May 1988, Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock used the term loadsamoney to criticise the policies of the Conservative government and journalists began to refer to the "loadsamoney mentality" and the "loadsamoney economy".
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler was born in Madrid, Spain, in May 1975, the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler.
Iglesias 
was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side.
At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother; however, in December 1981, Iglesias's grandfather Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA.
When Enrique was six years old he lived for a year in the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade with his mother.
For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami, Florida. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album.
Iglesias with partner Anna Kournikova [HOLA]
He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums Enrique Iglesias, Vivir and Cosas del Amor becoming the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade.
By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Interscope Records releasing a string of hit English albums such as Enrique, Escape, 7 and Insomniac. During this time he also released Spanish albums such as Quizás and 95/08 Éxitos under Universal Music Latin.
His partner is the former Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova.
Enrique Iglesias Éxitos Sus Mejores Románticas / Enrique Iglesias 30 Grandes Éxitos Enganchados
Prince Harry
The second son of King Charles III King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms since 8 September 2022.
In 1981, the then Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer.
They had two sons, William, heir to the throne, and Harry.
Charles and Diana divorced in 1996.
Diana died as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash in Paris the following year. In 2005, Charles married his long-term partner, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, and is currently fifth in the line of succession to the British throne.
After school and university Harry became a professional soldier, serving two terms in Afghanistan.
He is the founder of the Invictus Games.
Now estranged from the Royal Family, Harry lives with his wife Meghan Markle, a US actress, in California. They have two children, Archie and Lilibet.
Harry and Meghan [US Weekly]
In Spain Harry is known as Enrique.
Footnotes:
Henry II
This episode of English history has spawned various works of literature, including “Murder in the Cathedral”, a play by T S Eliot and the plays “Becket” by Jean Anouilh and "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman.
The film version of "Becket" starred Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton as Henry II and Becket respectively.
O'Toole also played Henry II in the film "The Lion in Winter" opposite Katherine Hepburn as Queen Eleanor of Acquitaine.
O'Toole and Burton in "Becket" [Gold Derby] Hepburn and O'Toole in "The Lion in Winter" [The Alexandria Papers]
Henry VIII
Henry VIII is mainly remembered for having six wives and for setting in motion a chain of events that would lead to England’s break with the Catholic Church and the start of the English Reformation.
This rhyme recalls what happened to each of his wives:
“Divorced, beheaded, died,
Divorced, beheaded, survived”
Henry VIII's queens were:
Catherine of Aragon (Spanish); Anne Boleyn; Jane Seymour; Anne of Cleves (Dutch); Catherine Howard; Catherine Parr
Henry VIII in literature, music and film:
"Henry VIII" (play)
The "Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth", often shortened to "Henry VIII", by William Shakespeare
"Carry On Henry"
A fictionalised story involving Sid James as Henry VIII, who chases after Barbara Windsor's character Bettina.
"Henry VIII" (opera)
"Henry VIII" is an opera in four acts by Camille Saint-Saëns, from a libretto by Léonce Détroyat and Armand Silvestre.
"I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am"
Pronounced "'Enery" in the Cockney style. Original by Harry Champion, then by Herman's Hermits.
Herman’s Hermits ~ I’m Henry VIII, I Am ~ 1965 ~ Single Audio Video
"The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (album)
by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released in January 1973 on A&M Records.
Endword:
There are, of course, other Henrys and Harrys.
Ones that come readily to mind are:
Harry Kane, England football's captain and leading scorer;
Debbie Harry, American singer with the group "Blondie";
Harry Styles, actor and singer formerly of the pop group "One Direction";
Henry Slade, Devon-born England rugby union international, with 69 caps to date and still playing;
Harry Hill, English medical doctor and stand-up comedian;
Harry Kewell, Australian football international (58 caps) who played for Liverpool FC, now retired;
Harry Houdini, Hungarian-American escapologist;
and Harry Potter, fictional wizard created by J K Rowling.
Debbie Harry of "Blondie" [Wikipedia]
Blimey! That's another eight! Enough for another article?
© Joe King
Links:
Enrique Iglesias Éxitos Sus Mejores Románticas / Enrique Iglesias 30 Grandes Éxitos Enganchados
Harry Belafonte - Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) (Live)
Harry Enfield - Stavros
Herman’s Hermits ~ I’m Henry VIII, I Am ~ 1965 ~ Single Audio Video
Photos:
Amazon, BBC, British Comedy Guide, Facebook, Gold Derby, ¡HOLA!, New York Times, The Alexandria Papers, The Telegraph, US Weekly, Wikipedia, YouTube
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