Back in 2005, Prince Harry joined the British Army at the age of 19, serving for a decade and completing two tours in war-torn Afghanistan.
Nearly 20 years later, he opened up about those difficult experiences in his 2023 memoir, Spare, which sparked widespread controversy.
In the book, the 40-year-old prince shared details about the people he killed during his time in the Middle East — revealing the exact number and explaining why he chooses to remember it.
Harry’s military path followed a limited number of royals, including Prince Andrew and his brother, Prince William, who served in the Royal Air Force.
Prince Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III, was initially set to serve in Iraq with the Blues and Royals. However, that plan was later reversed due to safety concerns.
After proving his capability, Harry was promoted to lieutenant in the Household Cavalry. In 2008, he was deployed to Afghanistan, where he served on the front lines and engaged directly with Taliban forces.
Reflecting on his time there in his memoir, he wrote:
“Afghanistan was a war of mistakes, a war of enormous collateral damage—thousands of innocents killed and maimed, and that always haunted us.
So my goal from the day I arrived was never to go to bed doubting that I’d done the right thing, that my targets had been correct, that I was firing on Taliban and only Taliban, no civilians nearby.”
He added: “I wanted to return to Britain with all my limbs, but more, I wanted to go home with my conscience intact.”
The father of two, who left the military in 2015, later shared the total number of people he killed during combat — and explained why he never lets himself forget that exact figure.
“I could always say exactly how many enemy fighters I had killed,” he said.
“And I felt it was important not to hide from that number. Of all the lessons I learned in the Army, accountability was one of the biggest.”
“So, my number: Twenty-five.”
His remarks caused a stir at the time, but both the Ministry of Defence and then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chose not to respond.
In another part of his book, Harry wrote that he didn’t feel pride or shame about the killings, but had to shift his thinking about human life while serving.
“I was part of six missions where lives were taken,” he wrote. “And each one was considered justified… I saw it that way too.”
He also admitted that, during his time on the battlefield, he pictured his enemies as “chess pieces taken off the board” — a way to stop himself from overanalyzing his role.