Prince Harry has revealed one thing his grandfather Prince Philip told him before his Afghanistan military tour – and that was apparently a call for the young royal not to die in the war-torn country.
Speaking from California, the Duke of Sussexes said during the BBC special that his grandad was “unapologetically him”.
“Going off to Afghanistan he was very matter of fact and just said, ‘Make sure you come back alive’,” Harry shared, according to fragments of the upcoming documentary posted online.
“Then, when I came back, there wasn’t a deep level of discussion, more a case of, ‘Well, you made it. How was it?’ [and] that’s how he was,” the former senior royal said.
During his ten-year military career, Prince Harry was twice deployed in Afghanistan, in 2007 and then 2012. The Taliban leaders revealed during his second tour that they were using all their strength “to get rid” of the royal “either by killing or kidnapping” him.
Prince Harry safely returned from his 20-week deployment in 2013 and resigned from the army two years later.
Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and members of the Royal Family walk behind the hearse on the grounds of Windsor Castle during the funeral of Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, who died at the age of 99, in Windsor, Britain, April 17, 202
© REUTERS / POOL
He lost all his military titles this year, after ditching his senior royal role in March 2020 and relocating to California with his wife Meghan.
In April, Harry travelled back to the UK for Prince Philip’s funeral but returned to his heavily pregnant wife Meghan and son Archie quickly after the burial.
The Duke of Sussex took part in the hours-long documentary alongside brother Prince William and dad Prince Charles – but the UK royals clearly filmed their bits separately.
In the documentary, Harry described his grandfather, who reportedly was not very happy about the Sussexes’ recent publicity stunts with American media, as a great “listener”.
“He sort of set the scene for you to be able to share as much as you wanted to share but he would never probe,” Harry is heard saying in the documentary.
Neither his wife Meghan nor the Queen will feature in the film, which is expected to be released on Wednesday.