Prince Harry Addresses Time He Wore a Nazi Costume: 'One of the Biggest Mistakes of My Life'

Prince Harry addresses an old shame. In the third episode of Prince Harry  and Meghan Markle's revealing new Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, Harry finally speaks out about one of his "biggest mistakes." He recounts the time he wore a Nazi uniform to a costume party in 2005, calling it "one of the biggest mistakes of my life," according to E! Online. "I felt so ashamed afterwards," he adds. "All I wanted to do was make it right." As a result of the controversy, Harry met with the chief rabbi of London, which "had a profound impact" on him, and he also traveled to Berlin to speak with a Holocaust survivor. "I could have just ignored it and just got on and probably made the same mistakes over and over in my life," Harry explains. "But I learned from that." In the same episode, Harry discusses the 2017 conflict regarding Princess Michael of Kent (who is married to Queen Elizabeth's first cousin) wearing a "racist" brooch when she met Meghan Markle.

"In this family, sometimes you're part of the problem rather than part of the solution, and there is a huge level of unconscious bias," Harry says. "The thing with unconscious bias is it's actually no one's fault. But once it's been pointed out or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right. It's education, it's awareness. And it's a constant work in progress for everybody, including me." On Dec. 8, the first three episodes of Harry & Meghan premiered globally, with Archewell Productions serving as a producer. The footage was captured during the couple's last public engagement as active members of the royal family in March 2020. Harry candidly speaks about his decision to retire from his position during his opening appearance on the show. 

"My job is to keep my family safe," he says from a private airport suite in London. "But the nature of being born into this position amid everything that comes with it and the level of hate that is being stirred up in the last three years, especially against my wife and my son, I'm generally concerned for the safety of my family." As Harry addresses the British media and the royal family in the scene, both seem to be the "they" in question. "This is about duty and service and I feel as though being part of this family is my duty to uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media," Harry says. "This isn't just about our story. This has always been so much bigger than us. No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth. The institution knows the full truth and the media knows the full truth because they've been in on it."

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