When Prince Harry Admitted Wearing a Nazi Costume Was 'One of the Biggest Mistakes of My Life'

In the Netflix documentary- Harry & Meghan, the Prince spoke about the moment he was seen at a party in 2005 while dressed as a Nazi, calling it 'one of the biggest mistakes of my life.' On January 8, 2005, Harry was shown holding a drink at a friend's costume party, dressed as a Nazi soldier with an army shirt and a red-and-black swastika armband. He said in the documentary, "It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I felt so ashamed afterward."

As reported by Town and Country Magazine, in the third episode of the series Harry and Meghan, he revealed, "All I wanted to do was make it right. I sat down and spoke to the Chief Rabbi in London, which had a profound impact on me. I went to Berlin and spoke to a Holocaust survivor. I could have just ignored it and gone on and made the same mistakes over and over again in my life. But I learned from that." The next day, tabloid front pages featured pictures of Harry—the son of the late Princess Diana and the now-king Charles—clad in an Afrika Korps Nazi costume. Following the incident, many denounced Harry for downplaying the Holocaust, while others demanded that he be barred from enlisting in the Army—even though he eventually served.

Following the controversy in 2005, Harry released his first comment, stating, "I am very sorry if I caused any offense or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize." As reported by CNN, Rabbi Jonathan Romain, a representative for the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, said in a statement at the time, "The fact that the palace has issued an apology indicates that this was a mistake by the prince. But having been given, the apology should now be accepted." The monarch also spoke about the 'unconscious bias' in his family, saying that even while 'it's actually no one's fault,' it doesn't mean that nobody has to take responsibility for it. He said, "In this family sometimes, you know, you’re part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias."

He said in the series, "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 everyone ― including me." Later, in his memoir Spare, he spoke about this incident and explained, "When I saw those photos, I recognized immediately that my brain had been shut off, that perhaps it had been shut off for some time. I wanted to go around Britain knocking on doors, explaining to people: that I wasn’t thinking. I meant no harm. But it wouldn’t have made any difference. Judgment was swift, harsh."