Prince Harry’s upcoming memoir has already hit bookstores in Spain, and many juicy details have already hit the internet. While most are just gossipy stories, one story has some worried Harry might have made himself a terrorist target.
Harry’s Military Service In Afghanistan
The prince’s memoir, Spare, is Harry’s chance to tell his side of the story, from fights with his brother and father to sweet details about his romance with Meghan Markle. He also shares stories about his time in Afghanistan.
Harry was first deployed in 2007, where he served as a forward air controller. However, that tour was cut short when a news organization broke the media’s news blackout promise about the prince’s movements and actions in the Middle East.
In 2012, after learning to fly Apache helicopters, Harry was deployed to a camp in Southern Afghanistan. During this second tour, he flew on six missions and revealed in his book that he killed 25 people.
Harry Says The Number Does Not ‘Embarrass’ Him
In Spare, Harry shared that he didn’t see them as “people,” but rather as “chess pieces” that needed to be removed from the board. “[The Army] trained me to ‘other’ them and they had trained me well,” he said of the experience.
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“I made it my purpose, from day one, to never go to bed with any doubt whether I had done the right thing … whether I had shot at Taliban and only Taliban, without civilians in the vicinity,” Harry wrote. “I wanted to return to Great Britain with all my limbs, but more than that I wanted to get home with my conscience intact.”
He went on to say that soldiers typically don’t know the exact number of people they have killed, but “in the era of Apaches and laptops,” he could say “with exactness how many enemy combatants I had killed. And it seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number.”
“So my number is 25,” the prince concluded. “It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me.” Some are a little surprised by his neutral attitude towards the people he’s killed. However, Harry explained that, after seeing what took place on 9/11, he wanted to take on these “enemies of humanity.”
“We fire when we have to, take a life to save a life,” he said of his military service. In fact, Harry shared that the only shots he thought twice about were the ones he didn’t take. One specific moment he regrets is a time when he was unable to help Gurkha troops, whom he referred to as his “brothers,” when they were under fire from the Taliban.
Could These Revelations Risk An Attack?
Many are impressed by Harry’s military service, and his candor in discussing them now—it’s the first time the prince has ever spoken in great detail about his time serving in Afghanistan. Others are worried the Duke of Sussex has put his personal safety in jeopardy.
Harry has long been seen as a terrorist target because of his status as a member of the British royal family. His military service increased that risk. Some fear that the details he revealed in Spare might put him, as well as his family, in danger of an attack.
While serving in Afghanistan, it was reported that the Taliban told their commanders “to do whatever they can to eliminate him.” With these new revelations about his specific actions while serving in the Middle East, many are worried terrorists will focus on him as a target.
Harry’s Fears For His Family’s Safety
The prince has often spoken about his safety fears, especially after he and Markle gave up their royal duties in 2020. By stepping away from the royal family, the couple lost their taxpayer-funded security detail.
Harry even took legal action over the British Home Office’s decision to not provide him and his family during a recent visit to the UK. His attorney said Harry “does not feel safe” while in England because of this lack of security.
He also spoke about his security concerns in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan, saying the lack of security detail was one of the main worries he and Markle had when deciding to leave the royal family. So far, no threats have been made towards Harry for what he revealed in Spare, but it’s safe to say that he and his family’s security team will be on guard in the coming months.
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