Prince Harry calls for return of national service

Prince Harry, who has credited the Army for keeping him out of trouble, and called for National Service to be brought back. Picture: PA

The 30-year-old prince also revealed that he is happy being single and reflected on how the army gave him a chance to “escape the limelight.”

“Definitely, without a doubt, it does keep you out of trouble,” he said. “I dread to think where I’d be without the army.”

Harry, who is completing a decade-long military career, voiced support for national service as he spoke of the transformative effects on men he knew in the army. He even encouraged his nephew and niece, George and two-week-old Charlotte, to be involved in the military one day.

“It’s done no harm, just good, for me and I know it’s the same for William,” he said.

The prince said he hoped William and Kate’s children would learn to cope with the pressures of growing up in the Royal Family. Prince Harry, who is fifth in line to the throne, was speaking at the end of his weeklong visit to New Zealand. Prior to that he spent a month with the Australian army.

The Prince now plans to spend the summer working with animal conservation groups in Africa, which he said has been a long-held dream for him.