When the globally recognisable Harry Styles braved a crowd of 150,000 people to witness the new Pope’s first address in person, it highlighted how important the star’s spiritual journey is to him – as evident in his body art.
However, one artist behind some of his body art believes there is a “sadness” tinged with some of Harry’s curious designs.
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The singer, who was spotted in St. Peter’s Square watching Pope Leo XIV being debuted at the Vatican, has a series of religious-inspired tattoos, including an inking of a Holy Bible on his left arm, and a cross on his left hand.
A source said: “Harry’s body is like a scrapbook of his life. He would always get tattoos as little representations of specific moments in time – they’re all like little mementos now, and you can trace his journey through his spiritual discoveries through his body art.
‘Scrapbook of his life’
“One Direction used to be stuck in their hotel rooms on tour, because anywhere they went was swarmed with fans. Getting tattoos in their hotel rooms was their escape from the madness and a way to express themselves and feel free.
“Sometimes they would just muck around with little cartoons, that really aren’t that deep, but others seem symbolic of what was going on inside their heads at the time.
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“You could say getting body art was their first outlet to cope with fame – now Harry’s chronicles all the different paths he has explored to help be at peace with fame, and life in general.”
The former One Direction star, 31, has previously stated he is “more spiritual than religious” – though with typical dry humour, he admitted that it “sounds a little w***y” to describe himself as spiritual.
‘Outlet to cope with fame’
“I’m not super tied-in to certain rules,” he stated in 2018. “But I think it’s naïve to say nothing exists and there’s nothing above us or more powerful than us. I think that’s a little narrow-minded.
“I definitely believe in karma…. I definitely think there’s something, that it’s not just us.”
Yet despite his tattoos having clear religious inspiration, tattoo artist Kevin Paul says Harry’s body art is often spur-of-the-moment, as epitomised when he played “tattoo roulette” and got an inking live on the Late, Late Show.
“Harry is very random,” he says. “I was halfway through stencilling another design that he wanted when he decided that he didn’t want that now, he wanted to have ‘17 Black’.
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“It was all very erratic how he had his tattoos. I think he’s calmed down a lot though now.”
But Kevin recalls how Harry’s tattoo sessions, which would take place in a hotel room while the group were touring, seemed to be a method of escape from the constant glare of the spotlight.
“When I met him, you could see the sadness oozing through him,” says Kevin. “Because they were locked in – they could never go anywhere.
‘He just wanted to be normal’
“We used to call it ‘the billion pound pension’ because everyone was going to get rich off the back of it, but they just had to do as they were told and be where they were told to be.
“I got really sad for him, because he was really sweet. There was a moment when I told him I didn’t have any kitchen roll and said I needed some, and he said: ‘There’s a Sainsbury’s over the road, I’ll go and get some.’ And then he went: ‘Oh s***. I can’t.’”
Naturally, at the time, wherever the band were holed up was besieged by armies of devoted fans, desperate for a glimpse, which left them locked in hotel rooms across the globe.
‘More spiritual than religious’
“He just wanted to be normal,” says Kevin. “He wanted to walk across the road.”
While there is an “erraticism” to some of Harry’s tattoos, it is possible that another of Harry’s tattoos – a bird cage inked in 2012 – is representative of this feeling.
Equally, his growing collection of religious art seems to reflect his interest in discovering about different faiths.
In 2014, he covered up a tattoo on his arm which read “things I can’t” – thought to be taken from a serenity prayer – with a picture of a Holy Bible.
Harry, who says he “is christened but not really that religious”, was brought up in a family of church goers.
His late paternal grandfather Brian Selley laughed that the young parishioners in Harry’s hometown of Holmes Chapel knew more about his grandson’s goings on than he did. “They always want to know the latest when they see me on a Sunday,” Brian laughed in 2013.
“It’s the first thing they ask me – I think they’re hoping he’ll come with me one Sunday.”
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And despite wearing a St Christopher – the patron saint of safe travels – on stage, as well as regularly making the sign of the cross during performances, Harry has also shown a keen interest in the teachings of numerous religions besides Christianity.
In 2014, he wore a Kabbalah bracelet – a red string with a charm – on stage at Wembley, prompting speculation he had started following the religion popularised by Madonna at the time.
The bracelet is believed to protect the wearer from bad energy, or feeling negative emotions such as jealousy, that those possessed by the “evil eye” otherwise encounter.
Kabbalah bracelet
In March 2015, during One Direction’s tumultuous tour stop in Thailand, which saw Zayn Malik sensationally quit the group, Harry embarked on a spiritual journey, visiting temples in Bangkok and practising yoga and meditation.
Meditation, he says, makes him feel like he is “living”, and helps “with worrying about the future less, and the past less”.
He later told how Hermann Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, which tells the story of a young man’s journey of self-discovery during the time of Gautama Buddha, “makes a lot of sense” to him, and was an “important” book.
Among his travels, he has exchanged theological ideas with some of the world’s most profound thinkers – he once met with the philosopher Alain de Botton to discuss “Plato, Aristotle, love and beauty”.
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During his time in 1D, he had such affection for the Jewish religion, he Tweeted friends with Yiddish words and had his sister Gemma’s name tattooed in Hebrew, and though his dad Des clarified “categorically, he is 0% Jewish”.
Harry also has several inkings to remember late relatives including his step-father Robin, and his grandparents, including the letters R and B.
Kevin – who has also drawn many of Ed Sheeran and Rihanna’s tattoos, and has been tipped to appear on ITV2’s Big Brother – says this is all part of Harry feeling comfortable to show the world who he is, and adds: “It’s nice he’s able to express himself.
“When people ask who the nicest person I’ve worked with is, I would still say Harry.”
