Princess Harry’s Heart of Invictus Netflix documentary series has officially been released. It premiered on August 30 – the eve of the 26 year anniversary of Princess Diana’s death
The series was produced by Archewell Productions, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s company.
The focus of Heart of Invictus is the Invictus Games – the international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women that was co-founded by Harry in 2014.
In the trailer, the Duke of Sussex explained, “The Games doesn’t focus on what causes the injury, but really about the recovery and how to be part of a community again.”
Read on to find out everything you need to know about Prince Harry’s new docuseries Heart of Invictus…
What is Heart of Invictus about?
The five-part documentary series Heart of Invictus follows six individuals who competed in the 2022 Invictus Games. These six explain how serving in a war affected them both physically and emotionally, as well as how the Invictus Games helped them heal.
Prince Harry who co-founded the Invictus Games – and who produced Heart of Invictus through Archewell Productions and serves as an executive producer on the series – also appears in Heart of Invictus.
Along with a focus on the Games, Prince Harry also candidly spoke about returning from war in Afghanistan and how it triggered personal trauma about his late mother.
“I can only speak from my personal experience,” Harry said. “My tour of Afghanistan in 2012 flying Apaches, somewhere after that there was an unravelling, and the trigger to me was actually returning from Afghanistan but the stuff that was coming up was from 1997, from the age of 12.”
His voiceover continued amongst footage of the 12-year-old viewing Diana’s floral tributes at Kensington palace.
“Losing my mum at such a young age, the trauma that I had, I was never really aware of. It was never discussed, I didn’t really talk about it, and I’ve suppressed it like most youngsters would have done. But then when it all came fizzing out, I was bouncing off the walls. I was like, ‘What is going on here?’ I was feeling everything rather than being numb.”
What is the origin of the Invictus Games?
From 2007 to 2008, Prince Harry served as a British Army officer in Afghanistan. And after his first deployment, Harry flew back with three seriously injured comrades.
The experience stayed with Harry and he became determined to find a way for servicemen and women to be better supported in their recovery.
A few years later, in 2013, Prince Harry attended the Warrior Games in the US. While there, Harry witnessed how sport can greatly help wounded servicemen and women physically, mentally and socially.
But Harry felt the Warrior Games, while extremely beneficial and inspiring, didn’t “go far enough” and didn’t have enough participants or spectators.
And so, the next year in 2014, Prince Harry – in partnership with the Ministry of Defence – launched the inaugural Invictus Games in London.
Since then, the Invictus Games have been held four more times with the sixth Invictus Games overall set to take place from September 9, 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
