Prince Harry has reflected on the personal loss he experienced after leaving the British Army, admitting that hanging up his uniform meant giving up more than just a career.
In a candid video appearance for TIME, the Duke of Sussex discussed his military service, the lasting impact of conflict and the inspiration behind the Invictus Games.
“For me, sport instilled essential core values from a very young age, but it didn’t shape my identity as a young man. The British Army did,” Harry said.
“When I hung up my uniform, I felt like I’d lost not just my profession, but a part of my purpose, too.”
Harry served two tours in Afghanistan, experiencing the realities of war both on the ground and from the air. While he understood the immediate human cost of conflict, he said he had not anticipated how many service members and their families would continue living with life-changing injuries.
“What I didn’t fully anticipate was the sheer number of life-changing visible and invisible wounds that would impact my brothers and sisters in arms, as well as their families,” he explained.
The Duke also recalled the moment that helped inspire him to create the Invictus Games. During a visit to the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs in 2013, he watched wounded American service members compete and began to see sport as a powerful part of recovery.
“I didn’t just see recovery. I saw possibility,” he said. “I saw individuals develop an unshakable resolve that what happened to them would not be the end of their story.”
Many of the competitors had never considered themselves athletes, while others were trying their chosen sport for the first time. Yet Harry saw how competition could help restore more than physical strength.
“Sport wasn’t simply rebuilding strength. It was restoring confidence, purpose, identity and connection,” he said.
That experience led Harry to view sport as a form of medicine capable of reaching people in ways conventional treatment sometimes cannot.
“It challenges the body, focuses the mind and gives people permission to believe that what once seemed impossible may still be within reach,” he added.
Harry concluded by highlighting how recovery can extend beyond individual competitors and help their families heal as well, describing it as a reminder that “the comeback is better than the setback.”
