Prince Harry is hoping for his own Happy Days by following in the footsteps of Ron Howard to conquer Hollywood.
Pals claim the Duke of Sussex has signed up for web-based production courses and is happy to start from the bottom.
And 66-year-old Howard, who went from playing Richie opposite Henry Winkler’s Fonz in the 70s sitcom to being an Oscar-winning director, is seen as a role model.
A source said: “Harry has been doing courses, most recently a five-day ‘creative producing lab’.
“There is talk of Ron Howard being someone to emulate. It would prove to his family and the world he’s not going to sit back and sponge off his name.
“Harry wants to work and is willing to do that from the bottom up. He also doesn’t want to be in Meghan’s shadow either. He is in a very creative headspace and is determined to work as hard as he can.”
Howard got his first two Oscars for Cocoon in 1984, two more for Apollo 13 in 1995, one for How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 2000 and a further four in 2001 for A Beautiful Mind.
Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, met Howard at the Apollo 13 premiere.
The director said of their chat: “She was remarkable.”
While inspired by Howard, Harry has also shown interest in a masterclass in “documentary filmmaking and navigating truth and ethics”.
Earlier this month, we told how Harry, 35, and Meghan were said to be in talks to make a documentary honouring Diana’s legacy as part of their £115million deal with Netflix.
Meanwhile, Meghan, 39, had an online chat with three clients helped by a UK charity that trains and dresses unemployed women for interviews.
Meghan, who launched a clothing collection with Smart Works last year, told the women: “People can say so much of Smart Works is about the clothes but it’s not. It’s the confidence.”
Harry did not return requests for comment.
