Prince Harry tells how Afghanistan made him face up to Diana’s death

0 Prince Harry poses with Gurkha soldiers at an observation post in Helmand province Prince Harry has opened up about how his time in Afghanistan was the trigger for him to get help dealing with his mother’s death.

Harry, who served on two front line tours with the army, was filmed in conversation with Paralympic medal winner and former Invictus Games captain Dave Henson for Forces TV.

The Prince, who spent ten years in the military, admitted he has “plenty of issues” and had felt helpless at times.

But he said Afghanistan was the moment he realised he had to deal with his problems – and that the Invictus Games he set up for wounded service personnel had been “a sort of cure”.

He revealed: “Going through Invictus and speaking to all the guys about their issues has really healed me and helped me.

“I’ve got plenty of issues but none of them really relate to Afghanistan, but Afghanistan was the thing that triggered everything else.

“Not to get too personal, if you lose your mum at the age of 12 then you’ve got to deal with it and the idea that... 15, 17 years later I still hadn’t dealt with it, Afghan[istan] was the moment. I was like, ‘Right – deal with it’.”

Prince Harry was recently praised for revealing he sought counselling as he confessed it was not until his late 20s that he processed his grief for Diana, Princess of Wales who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

In the film, broadcast tonight at 8pm, the Prince told Mr Henson: “For me, Invictus has been a sort of cure for myself... There was many times in my early life and also many times in Afghan and coming back from Afghan when you actually feel helpless.”

He added: “Once I plucked my head out of the sand, post-afghan...

“It had a huge, life changing moment for me as well – ‘Right, you are Prince Harry, you can do this, as long as you’re not a complete tit, then you’re gonna be able to get that support, because you’ve got the credibility of ten years’ service and therefore, you can really make a difference’.”

Prince Harry described how his own struggles had manifested themselves and said recognising this meant he could help others. He also stressed the importance of service personnel speaking to each other about their struggles before mental health problems snowball.

Harry said: “You just need to be there for your mate and be a pair of ears and listen.”