A new five-episode documentary series that centers on Prince Harry's journey, coping with traumas stemming from his military service, dropped Wednesday on Netflix.
Read more:
The mini-series called "Heart of Invictus" follows six individuals who competed in the 2022 Invictus Games, a Paralympic sports tournament for injured and veteran servicemen and women initiated by Prince Harry.
The series delves into Prince Harry's own military experiences. He candidly accuses his family of failing to support him after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and during his military service in Afghanistan. "The trigger for me was actually returning from Afghanistan, but the stuff that was coming up was from 1997, from the age of 12," he said, referencing the car crash in Paris, when his mother was killed. "Losing my mom at such a young age, the trauma that I had, I was never really aware of. It was never discussed; I didn't really talk about it, and I suppressed it like most youngsters would have done."
In the series, Harry also speaks about the impact that therapy had on his life. "But then when it all came fizzing out, I was bouncing off the walls. I was like, 'What is going on here? I'm now feeling everything as opposed to being numb.'"
"Unfortunately, like most of us, the first time you consider therapy is when you are lying on the floor in the fetal position probably wishing you had dealt with some of this stuff previously. And that's what I really want to change," Harry said. "The biggest struggle for me was that 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."
Prince Harry established the Invictus Games in 2014 following his service in Afghanistan. His vision was to utilize sports as a means to support the physical, mental, and social rehabilitation of active-duty military personnel and veterans. Notably, the Invictus Games marked the inaugural public appearance of Harry and Meghan as a couple in 2017.