Prince Harry opens up before NATO: 'Part of my identity' after military exit

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Prince Harry opens up before NATO: 'Part of my identity' after military exit.

When a Royal speaks before military figures, things quickly get damned personal – and Prince Harry (42) once again proved that on Thursday with a video message to the NATO Military Committee in Brussels. Before the high-ranking officers, the Duke of Sussex spoke openly about how much the end of his military career still occupies him.

A decade in uniform – and suddenly everything is different

The military had been his life for over a decade: From 2005 to 2015, Harry served a total of ten years in the British armed forces, completing two deployments in Afghanistan during that time. Anyone who has been part of a military unit for that long doesn't just give up a job when they leave – Harry made that unmistakably clear in his message.

When I hung up my uniform, I felt I hadn't just lost a profession, but a part of my purpose and identity.

New mission – but the shadow remains

At the same time, the Royal emphasized, according to the US magazine People, that he himself had been lucky: After his service, he found a new mission that allowed him to stay engaged. The source available did not specify exactly what that entails.

With his candid speech before the NATO body, Harry once again shows that the break with the military hasn't released him even more than ten years later – and at the same time makes clear that the search for a new purpose is far from ticked off for the Royal.