Prince Harry was left seething with rage following a catastrophic leak regarding his military service, with only a couple of measures capable of soothing the incensed Duke.

Despite his current life filled with star-studded events and mingling with celebrities in Hollywood, Prince Harry’s past was markedly different. Before his marriage to Meghan Markle and his transition to a full-time Royal role, the Duke of Sussex dedicated a decade to serving in the British Armed Forces, which included two active tours in Afghanistan.

It was around 18 years ago, back in 2006, that Harry completed his officer training at the renowned Sandhurst Military Academy, marking the beginning of his distinguished military career with his ‘passing out’ ceremony.
By 2007, Prince Harry found himself in the thick of conflict in Afghanistan’s infamous Helmand province, under a strict media blackout respected by all UK outlets.

However, a mere 10 weeks into his deployment, an international media leak forced the withdrawal of Prince Harry from the battlefield, citing concerns for both his safety and that of his unit.

Reflecting on the situation at the time, Brigadier Andrew Mackay, commander of the Helmand task force, said: “The decision to withdraw Harry from operations was not made lightly and was given careful consideration.

“At the time of the decision, he was deployed in the field, conducting operations against the Taliban and we, therefore, had to consider not just the consequences for him personally but those that he was serving alongside.”

Royal expert Duncan Larcombe has revealed that Prince Harry was left seething when his secret deployment in Afghanistan was exposed, forcing him to return home. This incident marked one of the most challenging periods in the Prince’s life, reports the Mirror.

According to Larcombe, only his then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy and a trip to Botswana could soothe his anger. Speaking on Yahoo’s The Royal Box, Duncan shared: “One of the other real lows in Harry’s life was when he was dragged out of Afghanistan because his secret deployment had hit the papers which meant he had to come home.

“He was absolutely furious. Where did he go? Straight to Botswana with Chelsy Davy. Straight there and spent a couple of weeks there. Almost like – it’s where he goes when there’s steam coming out of his ears to calm down.”

In 2008, Harry embarked on helicopter training and returned to Afghanistan in 2012 for a four-month tour as a co-pilot and gunner in Apache helicopters. He completed this tour safely and returned to the UK in January 2013.

Last year, in his memoir Spare, Harry offered insights into his time in Afghanistan, revealing that he killed 25 Taliban during his second tour of duty. He stated that his six missions on the front line from 2012 to 2013 resulted in “the taking of human lives”, a fact he neither takes pride in nor feels ashamed of.

This shocking disclosure provoked outcries and rebukes from high-ranking figures in the military, not least Admiral Lord West, ex-chief of the Royal Navy, who lambasted the Duke as being “very stupid” for divulging details of his kills.

However, during a conversation with US talk show host Stephen Colbert, Harry adamantly refuted that he was bragging about his headcount but instead suggested that his main inspiration for speaking about his combat experiences was rooted in his ambition to curb the suicide rate among veterans.

Speaking to Colbert, he said: “I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame. And my whole goal, my attempt with sharing that detail, is to reduce the number of suicides.”