Prince Harry is opening up about the difficulties of coming home.
In Netflix’s new documentary series “Heart of Invictus”, the Duke of Sussex shares how his return from military service in Afghanistan triggered “trauma” related to his mom’s death.
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“From my personal experience, my tour of Afghanistan in 2012, flying Apaches, somewhere after that there was an unravelling,” he recalls in the series’ second episode. “And the trigger to me was returning to Afghanistan, but the stuff that was coming up was from the age of from 1992 from the age of 12.”
Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris in 1997.
He continues, “Losing my mum at such a young age, the trauma that I had I was never really aware of. It was never discussed. I never really talked about it and I suppressed it like most youngsters would have done.”
Harry goes on to talk about what that unravelling felt like, and how it helped him realize he needed to seek help.
“But when it all came fizzing out I was bouncing off the walls. Like what is going on here, I’m now feeling everything as opposed to being numb,” he says. “The biggest struggle for me was no one around me really could help. I didn’t have that support structure, that network, or that expert advice to identify what was actually going on with me.”
The royal adds, “Unfortunately like most of us the first time you really consider therapy is when you’re lying on the floor in the fetal position probably wishing you had dealt with some of this stuff previously. That’s what I really want to change.”
Referring to founding the Invictus Games, the sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, Harry says, “I’ve always wanted the Invictus Games and the support that comes with that all year round to be a net to catch those individuals.”
Harry first started his military career by entering the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2004.
In 2007, he was secretly deployed on a tour of duty in Afghanistan, though after it was reportedly publicly, he pulled out for the safety of himself and his fellow soldiers, given his status as a high value target.
The Duke of Sussex was the first member of the British Royal Family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew helicopters during the Falklands War.
In 2008, Harry began training to flew helicopters himself, and in 2012 served a second tour of duty in Afghanistan. He returned home early the following year.