Prince Harry’s ‘self-destructive’ behaviour could be sign of PTSD – and he should be protected, says Army veteran
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” .
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 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.
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.
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.
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.”
Storm Bram has been named by the Irish weather service – with warnings for strong winds and heavy rain issued for parts of the UK and Ireland.
More than half a month’s rainfall could hit some parts of the UK in just a 24-hour period, the Met Office has warned.
Yellow and orange warnings are in place across Ireland today and tomorrow, with “very strong to gale force” winds forecast on Tuesday.
Check the weather forecast where you are
The Met Office said strong winds forecast from Monday evening through until Wednesday could cause disruption, with gusts of 50-60mph predicted widely and 70-80mph in some places.
A yellow weather warning for rain comes into effect from 6pm on Monday, and will be in place for 24 hours, covering parts of southwest England and Wales, and stretching to parts of Herefordshire and Hampshire.
The Met Office has also issued a yellow warning for high winds from Dorset to Cornwall and up to north Wales, in place from 10pm on Monday until 4pm on Tuesday.
It said transport networks could face disruption, with delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges, and coastal roads and seafronts affected by spray and large waves. Power outages are also possible.
For 24 hours from 6pm on Monday, up to 40mm of rain could fall in some areas, with 60-80mm of rain over Dartmoor and high ground in South Wales, which would amount to more than half the average monthly rainfall in December.
The predicted rainfall across southwest England and South Wales is expected to hit already saturated ground and could lead to difficult travel conditions.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for northwest Scotland on Tuesday.
Flying debris “could result in a danger to life” – and there could be damage to buildings and homes along with the risk of roofs being “blown off” due to the “very strong and disruptive winds”, the Met Office warned.
Forecasters added there was the potential for large waves and beach material “being thrown” across sea fronts, roads and properties.
There are also yellow warnings for wind and rain on Tuesday across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and northern and southwest England.
Weather warnings issued for Tuesday. Pic: Met Office
Yellow warnings for wind have been issued for Scotland and parts of northern England on Wednesday.
The Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist, Steven Keates, said: “A deepening area of low pressure will approach the UK from the southwest later on Monday, bringing with it heavy rain and strong winds, which are likely to affect the UK between late Monday and early Wednesday.
“The exact track, depth and timings of this low are uncertain, which makes it harder to determine where will be most impacted by strong winds and/or heavy rain.
“This system has the potential to cause disruption, and severe weather warnings are likely to be issued over the weekend as details become clearer. We therefore urge people to keep up-to-date with the latest Met Office forecast.”
The Met Office said the rest of the month remained unsettled, with further periods of low pressure predicted.
It also said it is too early to provide an accurate forecast for the Christmas period.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Downing Street once again, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be keen to make this meeting more than just a photo op.
On Monday the prime minister will welcome not only the Ukrainian president, but also E3 allies France and Germany to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will join Sir Keir in showing solidarity and support for Ukraine and its leader, but it’s the update on the peace negotiations that will be the main focus of the meet up.
The four leaders are said to be set to not only discuss those talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also to talk about next steps if a deal were to be reached and what that might look like.
Ahead of the discussions, Sir Keir spoke with the Dutch leader Dick Schoof where both leaders agreed Ukraine’s defence still needs international support, and that Ukraine’s security is vital to European security.
But while Russia’s war machine shows no signs of abating, a warm welcome and kind words won’t be enough to satisfy the embattled Ukrainian president at a time when Russian drone and missile attacks continue to bombard Kyiv.
Keir Starmer welcoming Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Downing Street during a previous visit. Pic: AP
What is the latest in negotiations?
Over the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed “next steps” with US President Donald Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”.
“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”
But on Sunday evening, ahead of an event at the Kennedy Center, President Trump said he was “disappointed” with Mr Zelenskyy, as was asked about the next steps in Russia-Ukraine talks following negotiations.
He said: “We’ve been speaking to President Putin and we’ve been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy.
“And I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago.
“His people love it. But he hasn’t – Russia’s fine with it. Russia’s you know, Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it but he hasn’t read it.”
Read more:
Ukraine has become Europe’s war – so why doesn’t it act like it?
Inside a secret underground military base in eastern Ukraine
On Saturday, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, had told the Reagan National Defence Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in “the last 10 metres”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised new US security strategy over the weekend, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement”.
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