02 February 2024 , 07:53
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Prince Harry revealed some very personal details in his debut memoir Spare, with one of his former friends suggesting the book was a way for the Duke of Sussex to "unburden" himself.
In the bombshell book, Harry issued several attacks against the Royal Family. He detailed the breakdown of his relationship with his brother Prince William and claimed his father King Charles made a number of cruel jokes at his expense.
Harry also wrote about his time as an Apache helicopter pilot in the British Army, which saw him kill 25 people during his second tour of Afghanistan. One of Harry's former pals has suggested the Duke of Sussex would have been deeply affected by his time in the military and said one of the best ways to deal with it would have been to write about it.
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Prince Harry completed two tours of Afghanistan (PA)Edward Charles Featherstone, a pseudonym chosen by a businessman who used to play polo with Harry, told The Mirror: "What I can say is that it's well accepted that the best way to deal with PTSD is to speak about it and very often write about it. It's in that way that you unburden yourself."
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Edward, who has written his memoir titled The Rude Beginning, said Harry "must have suffered PTSD" following his time in Afghanistan. He explained: "Taking that his infamous number of 25 Taliban insurgents is accurate, it's my opinion that you can't take 25 lives and be involved in the theatre of war and that not reach deep into your psyche and cause psychological disorder."
He also said the memories are something that "creep up on you" later in life. The author followed a similar career path to Harry, working as a combat helicopter pilot in the air force. He said he was "quite deeply affected" by his experiences.
Harry would have found Spare helpful in 'unburdening' himself (Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)The Rude Chronicles is the first book in Edward's memoirs, The Rude Chronicles. It tells the story of his journey from being sent to boarding school at the age of six to playing polo and eventually joining the air force as a combat helicopter pilot.
In Harry's own memoir, he admitted to flying on six missions which resulted in "the taking of human lives". The Duke of Sussex also said that he didn't think of those he killed as people but as "chess pieces" which were taken off the board.
He described the insurgents as "baddies eliminated before they could kill goodies". In Spare, Harry wrote about how he watched each "kill" when he returned to base in Afghanistan and explained how it's not possible to kill someone "if you see them as a person", but said the army had "trained me to 'other' them and they had trained me well."
The Rude Beginning is available now.