Prince Harry might be royalty, but he was not sheltered from the dogs of war during his time with the British army in Afghanistan. While he fully admits many soldiers saw worse than he, he was exposed to his share of brutality — and as a result, underwent mandatory psychological tests when he left combat.
Harry revealed he was scarred by the “images [he has] been unfortunate to see” before he was forced to return home after journalist Matt Drudge revealed his secret location, which made soldiers serving with him a target.
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“You know, I described it to someone ages ago as one of those slide shows that go through your mind,” he told Sky News in a new interview. “If you’ve got a good imagination as well, everything that you see, especially if it’s something that is quite powerful, then that slide is in there. It’s always in there and if you have dark moments in your life, those slides will pop up.”
Harry went on to describe his two-day 2008 debriefing session in Cyprus, during which he underwent mandatory psychological tests to see exactly how deeply his experience had affected him, and if he needed additional help upon returning home.
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“The army put you through a day, two-day course on the way back through Cyprus, which is crucial to everybody,” he explained. “There are images I’ve been lucky enough not to see, but there have been images that I’ve been unfortunate to see. Nothing like some of these guys, but, yes, there is a percentage of me being able to relate to exactly what they go through.”
Harry is currently promoting his favorite cause, the Invictus Games, which come stateside to Orlando on May 8, 2016, and to Toronto in 2017.
See his entire Sky News interview below.
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Before you go, check out our slideshow below.
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