Prince Harry’s Sandhurst pal Levison Wood reacts to Duke’s Taliban ‘kill count’ claim in Spare

Army veteran and TV explorer Levison Wood has reacted to Prince Harry’s controversial Afghanistan ‘kill count’ admission in Spare – admitting he ‘wouldn’t have done that’. 

Wood, 42, trained with Harry, 40, at the Royal Military College of Sandhurst in Berkshire and both men have served together in Afghanistan in 2008. 

Writing in his 2023 memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex claimed he killed 25 Taliban soldiers during his second tour of Afghanistan in 2012 – an admission that sparked widespread backlash from several members of the armed forces. 

Speaking to The Times about Harry’s claim, Wood said: ‘I personally wouldn’t have done that, but he’s sold a lot more books than me, hasn’t he?’ 

When asked about Prince Harry, who he recently caught up with during a charity event in London, the former paratrooper said simply: ‘He’s great.’ 

Wood was promoting his latest travel book, Walking the Nile, documenting his arduous 4,250-km journey along the world’s longest river. 

Elsewhere in the interview, the bestselling author-turned-TV adventurer confirmed he is still single – but did not rule out the possibility of getting married ‘if anyone will have me’. 

One of Britain’s most eligible bachelors, Wood added that, while his mother pesters him for grandchildren, the pressure has somewhat been eased since his brother ‘just had a baby’. 

 ‘Very considerate,’ he quipped, but refused to comment on his current relationship status after a female stalker was jailed for a three-month stalking campaign against Wood. 

Prince Harry sparked fierce criticism after he admitted he killed 25 Taliban fighters in his controversial memoir Spare referring to them as ‘chess pieces’. 

‘Most soldiers can’t tell you precisely how much death is on their ledger,’ he wrote. ‘But in the ages of Apaches and laptops, everything I did in the course of two combat tours was recorded, time-stamped.

‘And I felt it vital never to shy away from that number,’ Harry continued. ‘Among the many things I learned in the Army, accountability was near the top of the list.

‘So, my number: Twenty-five. It wasn’t a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed.  

‘While in the heat and fog of combat, I didn’t think of those twenty-five as people. You can’t kill people if you think of them as people. 

‘You can’t really harm people if you think of them as people. They were chess pieces removed from the board, Bads taken away before they could kill Goods. 

‘I’d been trained to ‘other-ize’ them, trained well,’ Harry, who was known as ‘Captain Wales’ in the military, continued.

Several high-profile figures – including former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace – and army veterans criticised Harry for revealing his ‘kill count’ while warning it could pose a serious security risk to the Duke and his family. 

Reacting to Harry’s comments, Iraq veteran Colonel Tim Collins told Forces News: ‘That’s not how you behave in the army; it’s not how we think. He has badly let the side down. We don’t do notches on the rifle butt. We never did.’

Wallace, 53, who also went to Sandhurst and served in the army, accused Harry of ‘boasting’ about his kill count in an interview with LBC’s Nick Ferrari. 

‘I frankly think boasting about tallies or talking about tallies distorts the fact that the Army is a team game. It’s a team enterprise. It’s not about who can shoot the most.’ 

Following the release of Spare, which became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK, Prince Harry branded the suggestion he ‘boasted’ about his kill count in Afghanistan a ‘dangerous lie’ after excerpts from the book were leaked online. 

During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Harry said certain media outlets had chosen to intentionally ‘strip away the context’ of his account. 

‘Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan,’ he said.

‘If I heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it’s a lie.

‘It’s really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it… My words are not dangerous – but the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family. That is a choice they’ve made.’ 

Prince Harry recently met Wood during his most recent visit to the UK, when the Duke attended the 2024 WellChild Awards. 

The Duke has been a patron of the UK charity, which supports seriously ill children and their families, since 2008. 

Since Harry and wife Meghan Markle quit the royal family in 2020 – and relocated to the US – he has returned to the UK for the WellChild Awards in 2022, 2023, and 2024. 

Recounting his meeting with Harry at this year’s ceremony, Wood wrote on X: ‘Very honoured to give an award at the WellChild awards this evening and catch up with some old friends! A wonderful organisation doing heroic work.’ 

His post was accompanied by a selfie of Wood with Prince Harry.  

Wood previously defended Harry in the wake of ‘Megxit’ in January 2020, when the Sussexes announced their decision to step down as senior members of the royal family. 

In a post on X/Twitter, he wrote: ‘Prince Harry has served this country in & out of uniform. We trained together at Sandhurst and he served in Afghan with distinction. 

‘He’s been a champion of the Forces Community throughout his career. 

‘Worth remembering this for those commenting on duty.’ 

He also documented his 2018 meeting with Harry and Meghan at the Endeavour Fund Awards – honouring wounded, injured, and sick veterans who conquered sporting and adventure challenges – in a social media post. 

Alongside a picture of him shaking hands with Harry, Wood wrote on X: ‘Great to catch up with HRH Prince Harry and all the Endeavour Fund team last night at the awards.

‘Truly humbling and inspiring stories.’  

The Parachute Regiment veteran was named as the Endeavour Fund’s first ambassador, with Wood presenting the 2018 awards ceremony attended by Harry and Meghan.  

The Endeavour Fund, which was set up as a part of the Royal Foundation, was transferred to the Invictus Games Foundation in June 2020.