Prince Harry was left "broken" when he was pulled out of Afghanistan during his time in the Army.
The 33-year-old royal was taken out of the country 10 weeks into his tour in 2008 after foreign media broke a news blackout surrounding his presence there, and he has now admitted he was left feeling worried for his fellow soldiers, as he had no idea what would happen to them.
Prince Harry spoke as he was meeting with the parents of 21-year-old Morten Krogh Jensen, who was killed in the battle and whose body was flown back on the same plane the royal was on.
He told them: "I was broken. I didn’t know what was going to happen to them [his fellow British soldiers] and suddenly I find myself on a plane that’s delayed because a Danish soldier’s coffin was being put into the plane."
The flame-haired royal cites the experience – in which he was also placed on a plane with several wounded British soldiers – as being pivotal in his decision to set up the Invictus Games, an Olympic style event which sees injured service men and women compete in various sports for their country.
Denmark’s Prince Joachim said of Harry’s meeting with Jensen’s parents: "This was an eye opener for prince Harry … This was a motivating factor for him to start pushing to establish the Invictus."
It isn’t the first time Prince Harry has spoken about being taken out of Afghanistan, as he also detailed the event ahead of the Invictus Games in Toronto last month.
He said at the time: "As I was waiting to board the plane, the coffin of a Danish soldier was loaded on by his friends.
"Once on the flight, I was confronted with three British soldiers, all in induced comas, with missing limbs, and wrapped in plastic.
"The way I viewed service and sacrifice changed forever. And the direction of my life changed with it."
Prince Harry left ‘broken’ after being pulled from Army
