Colonel Kemp, who served in the British army from 1977 to 2006, including commanding Operation Finkel in Afghanistan from July to November 2003, expressed his skepticism about the stress Prince Harry endured during his service in Afghanistan.
In a YouTube video description related to the Netflix series, Colonel Kemp questioned the extent of stress Prince Harry might have experienced during his overseas deployment. The video garnered significant attention, with thousands of viewers tuning in within hours of its release.
Colonel Kemp clarified that his aim was not to rehabilitate Prince Harry's image but rather to scrutinize the seriousness of Harry's claimed PTSD, considering what the Duke of Sussex actually did during his time in Afghanistan.
Colonel Kemp contended that Prince Harry's role in Afghanistan involved remote fighting, far removed from the frontline action. He argued that this level of engagement would not typically result in severe stress or PTSD, especially considering that Prince Harry was housed in luxury quarters and was under constant protection from the SAS.
Colonel Kemp pointed out that during one helicopter mission where Prince Harry fired a few rounds, he was no longer in imminent danger and immediately returned to his secure base. Consequently, Colonel Kemp asserted that Prince Harry's nickname, "Xbox Harry," reflected his perceived detachment from the realities of combat.
The retired officer underscored that Prince Harry had lost significant aspects of his life, including family and friends, and now faced a loss of respect among his fellow soldiers. He cited an incident in 2019 when Prince Harry attended the premiere of "The Lion King" for a job related to his wife, Meghan Markle, instead of fulfilling his role as Captain General Royal Marines, a position he had inherited from his grandfather, Prince Philip, who had attended a memorial service for Royal Marine band members killed by the IRA.
Colonel Kemp stressed the importance of loyalty to family, king, queen, and country as core values of the military, suggesting that Prince Harry had fallen short in this regard. He accused Prince Harry of repeatedly attacking his family, the monarchy, and his duty to the country for personal reasons, such as gaining sympathy, wealth, fame, and power. Colonel Kemp characterized Prince Harry as an embarrassment and a poor representation of military values.
Moreover, Colonel Kemp alleged that Prince Harry was not only a liar but also a manipulative one. He criticized Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for assuming that the public would unquestioningly accept their narratives, suggesting that they underestimated people's discernment. Colonel Kemp called for a shift in the public perception of Prince Harry and encouraged others to challenge his exploitation of his mother's death.
One of the main criticisms levied at Prince Harry pertained to what Colonel Kemp perceived as a shift toward a "woke" agenda. Colonel Kemp cited Harry's remarks about killing Taliban members in his memoir and his statement about treating them as sub-human. He contended that these statements contributed to a "woke" narrative rather than providing an accurate representation of the military experience. According to Colonel Kemp, these actions had led to Prince Harry being regarded with suspicion and diminished affection within the armed forces.
In Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," he recounted his experiences during two tours in Afghanistan, first as a forward air controller in 2008 and later as a co-pilot gunner in an Apache helicopter in 2012, reflecting on the number of individuals he had been involved in killing during his military service.
