The Duke of Sussex reveals that his tour of Afghanistan triggered “trauma” from his late mother Diana’s death. Prince Harry, 38, served in the army for ten years, during which time he served on the front line in Afghanistan twice.
Speaking in his new Netflix docuseries, Heart of Invictus, which aired on Wednesday, Harry spoke about the effect his time in the military had on his mental health.
Talking to the camera, the Duke said: “I can only speak from my personal experience. On my tour of Afghanistan in 2012 flying Apaches, somewhere after that there was an unravelling, and the trigger to me was returning from Afghanistan but the stuff that was coming up was from 1997, from the age of 12.”
As footage of a young Harry viewing floral tributes to his mother at Kensington Palace appeared on screen, the Duke added: “Losing my mum at such a young age, the trauma that I had, I was never really aware of.
“It was never discussed, I didn’t talk about it, and I’ve suppressed it like most youngsters would have done. But then when it all came fizzing out, I was bouncing off the walls. I was like, ‘What is going on here?’ I was feeling everything rather than being numb.”
Diana, Princess of Wales was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, were aged just 15 and 12 respectively when they lost their mother.
The Duke went on to claim that he had no “support structure” around him following his mother’s death.
“The biggest struggle for me was the people,” he began, adding: “No one around me could help. I didn’t have that support structure, that network, or that expert advice to identify what was going on with me.”
Harry spoke about the moment he realised he needed help, saying: “Unfortunately, like most of us, the first time you consider therapy is when you’re lying on the floor in the fetal position, probably wishing that you’d dealt with some of this stuff previously. And that’s what I want to change.”
In episode four of the five-part series, the Duke opened up about his experiences with trauma and grief with Canadian Invictus Games competitor Darrell Ling.
“I had that moment in my life where I didn’t know about it but because of the trauma of losing my mum when I was 12, for all those years, I had no emotion, I was unable to cry, I was unable to feel. I didn’t know it at the time,” Harry said.
Heart of Invictus has been released in the run-up to next month’s Invictus Games which begins in Dusseldorf on 9 September, with Harry set to travel to Germany for the start of the tournament, and Meghan joining later.
