{"id":23395,"date":"2026-07-31T18:24:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T13:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23395"},"modified":"2026-07-31T18:24:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T13:24:20","slug":"meghan-markle-accused-of-stolen-valor-for-remarks-about-prince-harrys-military-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23395","title":{"rendered":"Meghan Markle Accused of &#8216;Stolen Valor&#8217; For Remarks About Prince Harry&#8217;s Military Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:default1=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>During a recent appearance on <em>The Jamie Kern Lima Show<\/em>, Meghan Markle made a passing remark about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2026\/03\/meghan-markle-prince-harry-netflix-deal-over\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Prince Harry\u2019s military service<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And because everything she does is subject to intense scrutiny and criticism, the Duchess of Sussex might be regretting those remarks today.<\/p>\n<p>The topic came up when Meghan reflected on getting through life\u2019s difficult moments by recalling advice her husband once shared with her.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during a forum about digital responsibility at EAN University during a visit around Colombia on August 15, 2024 in Bogota, Colombia. \" class=\"wp-image-560167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\"\/><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during a forum about digital responsibility at EAN University during a visit around Colombia on August 15, 2024 in Bogota, Colombia. \" class=\"wp-image-560167 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during a forum about digital responsibility at EAN University during a visit around Colombia on August 15, 2024 in Bogota, Colombia. <span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Photo by Diego Cuevas\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBut you know, he was a helicopter pilot in the British Army for 10 years,\u201d Meghan said (via Radar Online). <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd sometimes, on really hard days, he said, \u2018Hey, but my love, you know, even if there\u2019s a storm happening, above the storm the sun\u2019s always shining.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The remark quickly caught the attention of royal watchers, who argued that Meghan\u2019s description blurred the line between Harry\u2019s overall military service and the years he actually spent flying helicopters.<\/p>\n<p>To be clear, there is no dispute that Harry served in the British Army for roughly a decade.<\/p>\n<p>He entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2005 and remained in military service until 2015, eventually leaving with the rank of Captain.<\/p>\n<p>However, his aviation career began several years after he enlisted.<\/p>\n<p>Harry started formal helicopter flight training in 2009, earned his wings in 2010, qualified as an Apache co-pilot gunner in 2012, and later became an Apache Aircraft Commander in 2013. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZKE3Hpm46M\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"\/>\n<p>He flew operational missions during his second deployment to Afghanistan before transitioning to a desk assignment in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Critics therefore argued that describing him as a helicopter pilot for the entirety of his 10-year military career was inaccurate.<\/p>\n<p>The interview sparked debate online, with several commenters insisting Meghan had exaggerated Harry\u2019s credentials.<\/p>\n<p>One Reddit user wrote, \u201cHe did not serve as a pilot for 10 years because in his earlier years of service he hadn\u2019t done that training.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another added that Harry \u201cserved for 10 years in the Army, not as a helicopter pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One commenter even went so far as to accuse Meghan of \u201cstolen valor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another person claimed, \u201cSuspicious. I don\u2019t think he was allowed to fly on his own, only as a co-pilot. And he doesn\u2019t seem to have a license now. We never heard of him flying after the military like William,\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others suggested the statement was likely a simple mix-up between the length of Harry\u2019s military service and the years he spent flying military helicopters.<\/p>\n<p>Harry has long described his decade in the Army as one of the most meaningful periods of his life.<\/p>\n<p>The Duke of Sussex completed two deployments to Afghanistan, although only the second came after he had qualified to fly Apache helicopters. His military experience has remained central to much of his charitable work since leaving royal duties, including his continued involvement with the Invictus Games.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Meghan nor Harry has publicly addressed the criticism surrounding her remarks.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading Time: 2 minutes During a recent appearance on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, Meghan Markle made a passing remark about Prince Harry\u2019s military service. And because everything she does is subject to intense scrutiny and criticism, the Duchess of Sussex might be regretting those remarks today. The topic came up when Meghan reflected on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2166245221-12-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}