Prince Harry has often praised his time in the military, but in his memoir Spare, he admitted he enlisted after a terrible accident occurred just before he was scheduled to do so.
Harry revealed horrific details about the injury he sustained while participating in an unofficial training day with the British Special Boat Service in 2005, when he and Prince William were there.
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We scurried down a set of metal stairs during one exercise. To make it more interesting, I suppose, someone turned off the lights. My left knee was immediately impaled on a fixed bolt that protruded from the floor when I fell in the dark four steps from the bottom, the Duke of Sussex wrote.
“A consuming pain swept over me. I completed the drill and was able to stand up and continue. But when we jumped off the boat’s helipad and into the water to conclude the exercise, I discovered that my knee wasn’t functioning,” Harry continued.
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“My entire leg wasn’t functioning. Willy looked down and paled when I exited the water and took off the dry suit. My knee was bleeding profusely. Within minutes, paramedics arrived. A few weeks later, the palace made the announcement that my entry into the Army would be delayed. Indefinitely.”
Harry continued by revealing that the palace press office had informed the media that he had injured his knee while playing rugby while he rested with his leg elevated and iced.
In both his memoir Spare and his interview with Anderson Cooper, the Duke of Sussex discussed the realities of his military service, saying: “It took me out of the UK press’s spotlight. For the first time in my life, I was able to put my attention on a goal greater than myself, to dress in the same uniform as everyone else, and to feel normal.
“I succeeded in overcoming some of my biggest obstacles. I made a strong case for joining the military. I was a 20-year-old man who was in shock, the 38-year-old continued.
