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Prince Harry’s “self-destructive” behaviour could be influenced by post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a retired colonel who has also suffered with the condition.

Philip Ingram said he recognises many of his former traits in the duke’s demeanour and that he physically “shivered” when he saw some of his recent interviews.

“A lot of the behaviours I’m seeing in Prince Harry are almost triggers for me,” the Army veteran, who served for 26 years and retired as a colonel, told Sky News.

“They remind me of some of my behaviours whenever I suffered quite severe PTSD.

“I’m seeing a troubled individual and an individual that needs help, not someone who should be continuously criticised in the way he is being.”

It comes after a series of revealing leaks from Prince Harry’s upcoming book, Spare, in which he makes claims including that his brother attacked him and that he killed 25 Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mr Ingram said he chatted to Harry several times at a ball when he graduated from Sandhurst military academy and that he had a “sparkle in his eyes, a confidence” .

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However, he now believes the prince is “falling apart” and should be protected.

“In what’s in his eyes, in his demeanour, in what he’s saying – and the way he’s saying things… What I’m seeing in him is what I call self-destructive behaviour – which is a recognised symptom of PTSD,” said Mr Ingram.

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Harry could be showing PTSD symptoms, says retired colonel

The retired colonel said he believes Prince Harry is not out for revenge and may not be fully aware of how he’s behaving.

“He’ll never be able to understand until something crosses that threshold and he goes to himself and says ‘this isn’t me’,” said Mr Ingram.

A royal expert has said Harry’s claims are the “most sensational royal revelations” in almost 30 years and that they will “shake” the foundations of the monarchy.

Michael Cole said the Duke of Sussex had “detonated a huge landmine” under Buckingham Palace.

Mr Cole, an ex-spokesperson for former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, told Sky News: “It’s the most sensational and damaging set of royal revelations since Prince Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, sat down with the now disgraced BBC Panorama reporter Martin Bashir in November 1995.

“Prince Harry in this book isn’t really blowing the doors of Buckingham Palace, he’s detonating a huge landmine under it and shaking the royal edifice and indeed shaking the British establishment.

Michael Cole
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Michael Cole said the situation was in some ways ‘tragic’

“These are very serious allegations and they cannot always be ignored.

“It is tragic in many ways that he feels he has to go on record like this, but quite clearly he does and nobody can say that he hasn’t pulled his punches, because he has let them have it.”

Among the claims made by Harry are that Prince William knocked him to the floor during a row in which he landed on a dog bowl.

He also claims that he and his brother asked their father, King Charles, not to marry Camilla following Diana’s death.

Mr Cole said: “Allegations of this kind ought to be resolved within a family. Families do have disagreements, this cannot be the first family in the world where a new arrival has caused conflict.”

‘Confessing to taking cocaine is a big mistake’

Prince Harry also makes a number of personal revelations in the book, including that he took cocaine and marijuana, and lost his virginity in a field.

“He has made some major errors in this book in my view,” Mr Cole said.

Britain's Prince Harry sits in his position in a Spartan armoured vehicle in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan February 18, 2008. The government is reviewing Prince Harry's presence in Afghanistan, where he has been deployed with the army for 2-1/2 months, following leaks in the international media that he was deployed there, the Defence Ministry said on February 28, 2008.  Photograph taken February 18, 2008.  REUTERS/John Stillwell/Pool   (AFGHANISTAN)
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Prince Harry in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan in 2008

“Confessing to taking cocaine is a major error, a big mistake.

“I think it is a mistake to confess to a crime like this and also to say his personal tally of the people he killed in Afghanistan.

Read more:
Biggest revelations from Spare
William will be livid – and there’s more to come

“That goes against the soldiers’ code in every way and I’m sure his fellow officers will not thank him for that.

“He has painted a target on his own back with this. He’s increased the level of danger to his whole family.”

Harry has ‘completely embraced commerce’

The book, published by Penguin Random House but accidentally released early in Spain this week, follows the release of Netflix series Harry and Meghan.

The couple have a deal with the US streaming giant reportedly worth tens of millions of pounds.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex expressed their desire to become “financially independent” following their decision to step back from frontline royal duties in January 2020.

Talking about tweet - "Meghan needs to die"
Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
PIC:NETFLIX
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Prince Harry and wife Meghan in their recent Netflix series

And Mr Cole said Prince Harry had now “completely embraced commerce”.

He said: “His royal status is just a calling card and from now on he and his wife are in the money business.

“I find it difficult to be sympathetic to them because they are two handsome, beautiful people with two lovely children and lots of money… it’s not a bad existence and while some of these complaints are serious, a lot of it is very trivial.

“They obviously feel that they have had to be frank, but that means an end to their previous existence.”

Invitation to coronation is a ‘problem’

Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have so far declined to comment on the book’s claims.

They will be braced for yet more coverage in the coming days, with Prince Harry doing several interviews to promote the book.

A key question is whether he will attend his father’s coronation, due to take place in May.

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In one interview, with ITV, Prince Harry said: “There’s a lot that can happen between now and then. But you know, the door is always open. The ball is in their court.

“There is a lot to be discussed and I really hope that they are willing to sit down and talk about it.”

Mr Cole said the issue is a “problem” for Harry and Meghan.

King Charles III, centre, and Camilla, the Queen Consort lead the Royal Family as they arrive to attend the Christmas day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham in Norfolk, England, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

He said: “The King has made it clear that they would be welcome at his coronation but that proves a problem.

“If they accept and they come that leaves them open to the claim of hypocrisy and if they reject the invitation they will seem rather small-minded and rather petty and there would be additional pressure for Prince Harry because all royal princes are present in the abbey on coronation day and would be required to swear an oath of loyalty to the new king.

“The King has played this quite well and is making it clear that his second son is not an outcast in his view.”

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Zhenhao Zou: More than 20 new potential victims come forward after ‘prolific’ rapist jailed for assaulting 10 women

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Zhenhao Zou: More than 20 new potential victims come forward after 'prolific' rapist jailed for assaulting 10 women

Another 23 female potential victims have reported that they may have been raped by Zhenhao Zou – the Chinese PhD student detectives believe may be one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders.

The Metropolitan Police launched an international appeal after Zou, 28, was convicted of drugging and raping 10 women following a trial at the Inner London Crown Court last month.

Detectives have not confirmed whether the 23 people who have come forward add to their estimates that more than 50 other women worldwide may have been targeted by the University College London student.

Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth said: “We have victims reaching out to us from different parts of the globe.

“At the moment, the primary places where we believe offending may have occurred at this time appears to be both in England, here in London, and over in China.”

Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth
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Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth

Zou lived in a student flat in Woburn Place, near Russell Square in central London, and later in a flat in the Uncle building in Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle, south London.

Read more: How a student described as ‘smart and charming’ was unmasked as a prolific sexual predator

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He had also been a student at Queen’s University Belfast, where he studied mechanical engineering from 2017 until 2019. Police say they have not had any reports from Belfast but added they were “open-minded about that”.

“Given how active and prolific Zou appears to have been with his awful offending, there is every prospect that he could have offended anywhere in the world,” Mr Southworth said.

“We wouldn’t want anyone to write off the fact they may have been a victim of his behaviour simply by virtue of the fact that you are from a certain place.

“The bottom line is, if you think you may have been affected by Zhenhao Zou or someone you know may have been, please don’t hold back. Please make contact with us.”

***ONLY USE IF HE IS CONVICTED OF AT LEAST TWO RAPES***It is feared Zou may have carried out dozens more sex crimes. Pic: Met Police
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Pic: Met Police

Zou used hidden or handheld cameras to record his attacks, and kept the footage and often the women’s belongings as souvenirs.

He targeted young, Chinese women, inviting them to his flat for drinks or to study, before drugging and assaulting them.

Zou was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim, as well as three counts of voyeurism, 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one count of false imprisonment and three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol.

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Moment police arrest rapist student

Mr Southworth said: “Of those 10 victims, several were not identified so as we could be sure exactly where in the world they were, but their cases, nevertheless, were sufficient to see convictions at court.

“There were also, at the time, 50 videos that were identified of further potential female victims of Zhenhao Zou’s awful crimes.

“We are still working to identify all of those women in those videos.

“We have now, thankfully, had 23 victim survivors come forward through the appeal that we’ve conducted, some of whom may be identical with some of the females that we saw in those videos, some of whom may even turn out to be from the original indicted cases.”

Mr Southworth added: “Ultimately, now it’s the investigation team’s job to professionally pick our way through those individual pieces of evidence, those individual victims’ stories, to see if we can identify who may have been a victim, when and where, so then we can bring Zou to justice for the full extent of his crimes.”

Mr Southworth said more resources will be put into the investigation, and that detectives are looking to understand “what may have happened without wishing to revisit the trauma, but in a way that enables [the potential victims] to give evidence in the best possible way.”

The Metropolitan Police is appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the force either by emailing survivors@met.police.uk, or via the major incident public portal on the force’s website.

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Girl, 11, who went missing after entering River Thames named

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Girl, 11, who went missing after entering River Thames named

An 11-year-old girl who went missing after entering the River Thames has been named as Kaliyah Coa.

An “extensive search” has been carried out after the incident in east London at around 1.30pm on Monday.

Police said the child had been playing during a school inset day and entered the water near Barge House Causeway, North Woolwich.

A recovery mission is now said to be under way to find Kaliyah along the Thames, with the Metropolitan Police carrying out an extensive examination of the area.

Location of Barge House Causeway, North Woolwich, where 11-year-old girl Kaliyah Coa went into the River Thames on 31/03
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Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope in North Woolwich leading into the Thames

Chief Superintendent Dan Card thanked members of the public and emergency teams who responded to “carry out a large-scale search during a highly pressurised and distressing time”.

He also confirmed drone technology and boats were being used to “conduct a thorough search over a wide area”.

He added: “Our specialist officers are supporting Kaliyah’s family through this deeply upsetting time and our thoughts go out to all those impacted by what has happened.”

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“Equally we appreciate this has affected the wider community who have been extremely supportive. You will see extra officers in the area during the coming days.”

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On Monday, Kerry Benadjaoud, a 62-year-old resident from the area, said she heard of the incident from her next-door neighbour, who “was outside doing her garden and there was two little kids running, and they said ‘my friend’s in the water'”.

When she arrived at the scene with a life ring, a man told her he had called the police, “but he said at the time he could see her hands going down”.

Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope that goes directly into the River Thames and is used to transport boats.

Residents pointed out that it appeared to be covered in moss and was slippery.

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Planning reforms to ‘rewire the system’ and get Britain building – all while protecting wildlife

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Planning reforms to 'rewire the system' and get Britain building - all while protecting wildlife

Major developers will only deal with one regulator under planning reforms which ministers say will “rewire the system” to get Britain building – all while protecting the environment. 

A review by former Labour adviser Dan Corry into Britain’s sluggish system of green regulation has concluded that existing environmental regulators should remain in place, while rejecting a “bonfire of regulations”.

But Mr Corry suggested there might be circumstances in which the government look at changing the wildlife and habit rules inherited from the EU, which protect individual species.

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These lie at the centre of the controversy of a £120m bat tunnel – the shed in Aylesbury which protects a rare breed from future high speed trains.

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The government has now explicitly ruled out any such change in this parliament.

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Campaigners have questioned whether the changes go far enough and will make a major difference to the rate and scale of building in the UK.

Speaking to Sky News, Environment Secretary Steve Reed insisted that accepting nine of the recommendations from the Corry review would amount to wholesale reform.

The minister said: “We can get a win-win for economic growth and for nature. And that is why we are moving ahead with proposals such as appointing a lead regulator for major developments so that the developers don’t have to navigate the architecture of multiple regulators.

“They just work for a single regulator who manages all the others on their behalf. Simplifying the online planning portal.

“These are huge changes that will save developers billions of pounds and speed up decisions doing damage to the environment.”

Mr Reed insisted that there would be “no more bat tunnels” built, even though the Corry review suggests that more work needs to be done to look again at the relevant guidance.

It says: “Rapidly reviewing the existing catalogue of compliance guidance, including on protecting bats, will identify opportunities to remove duplication, ambiguity or inconsistency.

“Natural England has already agreed to review and update their advice to Local Planning Authorities on bats to ensure there is clear, proportionate and accessible advice available.”

The review will mean:

• Appointing one lead regulator for every major infrastructure project, like Heathrow expansion

• A review on how nature rules are implemented – but not the rules themselves

• Insisting regulators focus more on government priorities, particularly growth

Economist and former charity leader Mr Corry, who led the review, said it shows that “simply scrapping regulations isn’t the answer”.

“Instead we need modern, streamlined regulation that is easier for everyone to use. While short-term trade-offs may be needed, these reforms will ultimately deliver a win-win for both nature and economic growth in the longer run.”

However, Sam Richards from Britain Remade, a thinktank trying to get Britain growing, said that while the steps are welcome, the number of regulators that report to the environment department would remain the same before and after the review. He questioned whether this would have the impact ministers claimed.

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