Prince Harry reveals he has refused to castrate calves at Outback Queensland cattle station in Spare

Prince Harry has revealed the one job he couldn’t bring himself to do while growing up as a teenage jackaroo in outback Queensland – neutering calves.

Between leaving Eton College and joining the British Army, the Duke of Sussex spent nine weeks at Tooloombilla Station in late 2003 as a 19-year-old.

The 16,000 hectare cattle estate 150km north-west of Roma was owned by Annie and Noel Hill, who were friends of his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Annie Hill had been Diana’s roommate when she was courted first by Harry’s father, then by the Prince of Wales and now by King Charles III. Mr. Hill’s father had been a professional polo player who taught Charles the sport.

Prince Harry has revealed the one job he couldn’t bring himself to do while growing up as a teenage jackaroo in outback Queensland – neutering calves. He is pictured at Tooloombilla Station in Queensland with the station owner’s son, George Hill, who became his mentor

Harry got a new nickname during his stint in Queensland. During a break in Sydney, the prince visited Taronga Zoo and was photographed with an echidna named Spike. George Hill saw the photo, thought Harry looked like the animal and named him Spike

Harry writes in his new memoir Spare that Charles discouraged him from going to university after he left school and instead suggested he take a gap year.

“It was no secret,” he tactfully told me, that I wasn’t “the intellectual of the family,” writes Harry in Spare. “He didn’t want to hurt me. Still, I shuddered.”

Harry had planned to spend six months on an Australian farm, away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi, and six months in Africa, where he would continue his mother’s charity work.

When the young prince arrived at Tooloombilla – twice the size of his family’s Scottish estate, Balmoral – he quickly realized it would be nothing like Eton.

Between leaving Eton College and joining the British Army, the Duke of Sussex spent nine weeks at Tooloombilla Station in late 2003 as a 19-year-old. The 16,000-acre cattle property was owned by Annie and Noel Hill, who were friends with his mother Diana

The Hills had three children, Nikki, Eustie and their eldest son George, who – despite being Harry’s age – would become his boss, mentor and tutor.

The first change in his circumstances that Harry noticed was the searing heat. Coming from a cool climate, he was now forced to work in blast furnace-like conditions.

Luckily, Harry was allowed to stay at the Hills’ main house, which he describes as a lovely little bungalow, while his bodyguards were stuck in an outbuilding on the outskirts of the station.

Harry writes that he felt uncomfortable over dinner when the conversation inevitably turned to his mother, who had died in a car accident in Paris six years earlier.

A typical workday started hours before dawn, when Harry and George would get as many chores done before sunrise as possible.

A typical workday started hours before dawn, when Harry and George would get as many chores done before sunrise as possible. The couple then saddled up and set off to collect cattle, which sometimes didn’t end well when an animal broke away from the herd

The couple then saddled up and set off to collect cattle, which sometimes didn’t end well when an animal broke away from the herd.

“From time to time in the heat of the hunt you would fall out of your saddle when you hit a low branch, and sometimes you would be knocked unconscious,” writes Harry.

After recovering from such a fall, Harry would examine his body for broken bones or internal bleeding. Some days he only saw George on the ward.

While Harry was immersing himself in station life, there was one job he turned down.

“The only job I didn’t bother with, the only difficult job I avoided was cutting her testicles,” he writes in Spare. “Every time George pulled out that shiny long blade, I threw up my hands. No way, man, I can’t. You do it.’

As Harry immersed himself in life on the station, there was one aspect of livestock that he couldn’t put up with. “The only job I didn’t bother with, the only difficult task I avoided was cutting her testicles,” he writes in Spare

At the end of a long day, Harry and George had dinner and then sat on the porch, rolling cigarettes and drinking cold beers. They were in bed at 8:30 p.m.

Harry writes that he had lost so much weight from the arduous work that he felt he was wasting away and that he was beginning to look and sound more like George the rancher than an English prince.

Harry’s hair had never fully recovered after being shaved off by his buddies at Eton. Some strands stood up and others stuck to his head.

After a trip to Taronga Zoo while attending a Rugby World Cup match in Sydney, the prince posed for a picture with an echidna, nicknamed “Spike” for its spines.

George saw the photo and thought Harry looked like the echidna and named him Spike, just like his bodyguards.

“From time to time in the heat of the hunt you would fall out of your saddle when you hit a low branch, and sometimes you would be knocked unconscious,” writes Harry

Harry started calling himself Spike on the walkie-talkie as he spoke to his security detail, some of whom had t-shirts made that said “Spikes 2003.”

Eventually, the name caught on even among Harry’s friends and some of his family members in England.

A Facebook profile that existed from 2008 to 2012 under ‘Spike Wells’, believed to have been used by the prince, had some of Britain’s wealthiest young people as friends.

Harry’s intended stay on Tooloombilla was interrupted by the appearance of paparazzi. In December, police found an intruder at the station, and two more came in the next day.

Not wanting to expose the Hills to an invasion of their privacy, Harry flew home to England and arrived days before Christmas.

“I’ve had a great time training out here, meeting people and learning a little bit about being a Jackaroo,” Harry said in a statement at the end of the trip.

“And of course the rugby was absolutely fantastic. It’s a great country.”

Harry’s stay on Tooloombilla was interrupted by the appearance of paparazzi. Police found an intruder at the station, and two more came in the next day. Harry flew home at the end of December