Prince Harry has said he discussed his killing of Taliban members in his memoir as part of his personal “healing journey” and that it is important for soldiers to be open about “parts of service that haunt us”.
The Duke of Sussex, who completed tours in Afghanistan in 2007-2008 and then in 2012-2013 as part of the Air Corps, had been criticised by servicemen for revealing he killed 25 Taliban in Afghanistan.
Harry left the army in 2015 and made the revelations, unusual for former soldiers, in his book Spare - which hit bookshops on Tuesday.
In an extract of an interview with People magazine, released on Friday Harry said: "I don't know that you ever fully reconcile the painful elements of being at war.”
"This is something each soldier has to confront, and in the nearly two decades of working alongside service personnel and veterans, I've listened to their stories and have shared mine. In these conversations, we often talk about the parts of our service that haunt us — the lives lost, the lives taken.
“But also the parts of our service that heal us and the lives we've saved."
“There’s truly no right or wrong way to try and navigate these feelings, but I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy,” he added. “Expressing and detailing my experience is how I chose to deal with it, in the hopes it would help others.”
Harry has spoken about all sides of his life in the book, including his relationship with his brother and father.
