Prince Harry Walks 17 Miles With Wounded Veterans
Published at | Updated at
Chris Jackson/Getty Images(SHROPSHIRE, England) — Prince Harry has taken to the streets, literally.
The 31-year-old prince vowed that he would join the Walking with the Wounded’s 1,000-mile trek across Britain, and on Wednesday morning he kept his promise.
Prince Harry, who is fifth-in-line to the British throne, joined six wounded service members, including two Americans, in Shropshire for their 17-mile leg of the walk on Wednesday.
The team are thrilled to be joined on the #WalkOfBritain today by Prince Harry, @DanMarino & @OsiUmenyiora pic.twitter.com/wnWkbJKTe9
— WWTW (@supportthewalk) September 30, 2015
The service members began the walk on Aug. 22 in Scotland and are expected to finish at Buckingham Palace on Nov. 1.
Prince Harry and the service members were also joined by former Miami Dolphins’ star Dan Marino in support of the walk.
Captain Wales, as Prince Harry was known in the Army, served two tours of duty in Iraq and retired as an Apache pilot in June. He is the Royal Patron of the Walking with the Wounded charity and hasn’t been afraid to take on the challenges himself to show his support.
He joined the team in the North Pole in 2011 and made the grueling mission to the South Pole in 2013.
Prince Harry also used his profile to start the Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style games for wounded and former service members. The games launched in 2014 in the U.K. and Prince Harry will bring them to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla., in 2016.
In a new interview with Britain’s ITV News, Prince Harry said society needs to do more to support those suffering mental health issues, both in military and civilian life.
“We need to do more. Not just with these guys but with everybody,” the prince said. “Mental health is a sensitive subject among a lot of people but it doesn’t need to be. I think we need to talk about it more, get rid of the stigma.”
Prince Harry also spoke to ITV about his future plans on the personal front.
“At the end of the day there’s a lot of things to get done before settling down,” Harry said, adding with a laugh, “We’ve still got seven miles to walk today which I’m really not looking forward to.”
After ITV reporter Tim Ewart jokingly corrected Harry that he still had eight more miles to walk, the prince replied, “I think everyone looks forward to settling down but, in the meantime, it’s work as usual so crack on.”
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.