Prince Harry calls wearing Nazi uniform 'one of the biggest mistakes of his life'

Prince Harry has said that wearing a Nazi uniform at a fancy dress party is ‘one of the biggest mistakes of his life’.

The Duke of Sussex wore the deeply inappropriate outfit, in which he donned a red armband with a swastika, to a friend’s costume party back in 2005.

At the time, when images surfaced of the royal at the party and were printed in The Sun newspaper, there was an understandable widespread reaction of shock and shame towards Prince Harry.

The former royal was around 20 years old when the incident unfolded and now, he has revisited the regrettable moment during the new and highly anticipated Harry & Meghan docu-series on Netflix.

The series tells the story of Prince Harry, now 38, and his wife Meghan Markle, 41, in their own words.

Recalling his undoubtedly poor decision behind wearing the clothing, Harry said he ‘felt so ashamed afterwards’.

“All I wanted to do was make it right,” Harry explained.

The youngest son of King Charles III and Princess Diana also offered that he ‘could have just ignored it and probably made the same mistakes over and over again,’ but has instead ‘learned from’ the decision.

He said following the event: "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."

During the series, Prince Harry made a nod towards the ‘unconscious bias’ in the royal family, adding that ‘it is actually no one’s fault’, but that others should still be responsible for trying to correct their beliefs.

He said: "Once it's been pointed out or identified within yourself you then need to make it right.

REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

"It's education, it's awareness and it's a constant work in progress for everyone ― including me,” Harry offered on the show.

Following the incident, Harry released a statement of apology which heard him say: "I am very sorry if I caused any offence or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize."

At the time, the Board of Deputies of British Jews stated that it was ‘pleased that [Harry] apologised for… his ill-judged actions.”

"We would now want to concentrate on ensuring that everyone understands the evils and enormity of the Holocaust, and the resonance of the swastika, not only to the Jewish community but to all in the United Kingdom affected by the Second World War against the Nazis," the group stated.

If you are the victim of an Anti-semitic incident or you have information regarding an antisemitic incident that happened to somebody else, contact the CST National Emergency Number on 0800 032 3263. In an emergency, always call 999.