After the publication of his memoir, Prince Harry accused the British media of misrepresenting his account of killing people in Afghanistan.
“Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie they’ve told is that I kind of bragged about the number of people I’ve killed in Afghanistan,” the 38-year-old said on US broadcaster late last night (local time). CBS’s “Late Night Show” by Stephen Colbert.
“I’d be pissed if someone bragged about something like that. But it’s a lie. My words are not dangerous.” The “spin” of the British media – i.e. their presentation of his descriptions – is, however, already.
“Taught detachment” problematic
In a passage of his autobiography, Spare, Harry writes about the number of people he killed in his operations in Afghanistan. “Well, my number: twenty-five. It wasn’t a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number I was ashamed of.”
While he would rather not have that number on his military résumé, he would also prefer to live “in a world without Taliban and without war.” However, some facts could not be changed.
The passage in which Harry describes the “taught detachment” of soldiers as problematic received less attention. In the CBS interview, Harry said it’s been “painful and challenging” to see the reactions to the leaked details of his book over the past few days without being able to do anything about it.
After two decades of working with veterans from all over the world, he believes that openness and honesty are important so that others can feel comfortable sharing their experiences.
