Prince Harry Shares the Impact of His “Lived Experience” in the Military in His Netflix Documentary
Prince Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary sees the couple sharing many intimate and behind the scenes moments as they open up for the cameras. And one aspect of the Prince’s life that is featured for its significance is his time in the military carrying out two tours of Afghanistan.
The Prince speaks about his years of service and how it shaped him in episode three of the six-part documentary, half of which has now been released by the streaming service. Footage of Harry and Meghan visiting the McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Air Force Base in New Jersey in November 2021 to meet service members in honor of Veterans Day is also shown. “My ten years in the army, it gave me the lived experience that other members of my family wouldn’t have had,” Prince Harry says. "Two tours in Afghanistan, flying Apache helicopters on a military base means that you grow up pretty fast. Jeez I went to war twice. The people that I met and the lifelong friends made, that was my second family.”
The Prince trained at the Sandhurst military academy from 2005 and joined the Blues and Royals in 2006. He served for a decade and carried out two tours of Afghanistan, in 2007/8 and 2012/13.
“Working and living with normal people—and I fully appreciate that my life is not normal— certainly has an effect on you,” Harry tells Netflix. “The bubble within the bubble that I was brought up in got burst. Ultimately I’m so grateful for it, and that was all before I met Meghan.”
The Prince has previously reflected on his time in the military but its inclusion in the documentary emphasizes just how central it remains to his identity. He relinquished his honorary military appointments when he stepped back as a working royal but continues to use his profile to support military charities and organizations.
Parts one to three of the much talked about Netflix documentary focus on the early years of the couple’s courtship and also explores how they were influenced by their childhoods. When asked why they wanted to make the documentary, Meghan said, “When you feel like people haven’t gotten any sense of who you are for so long it’s really nice to be able to have the opportunity to let people have more of a glimpse into what’s happened, and also who we are.”
“This is a great love story,” Harry said. “When I got to know Meghan more and more I was like I’m really falling in love with this girl. So, despite my fear I just opened my heart to see what’s going to happen.” The Prince also pointed out about how things have turned out, “She sacrificed everything that she knew to join me in my world. Then pretty soon after that I ended up sacrificing everything I knew to join her in her world.”
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