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Gay Veteran Says Prince Harry Protected Him From Homophobia

Prince Harry in his Royal navy gear.

The retiring royal “went out and saw these soldiers and spoke to them, and the problem went away.”

MikelleStreet

Though Meghan Markle and her husband are making headlines now for wanting to step away from their royal duties -- Queen Elizabeth seems less than enthused about the prospect -- there was a time when Prince Harry was using his power as a royal for good. According to a new report, when the Duke of Sussex was doing his required military service, he took it upon himself to protect a gay serviceman who was the subject of homophobic bullying.

"I'd got myself into a bit of a situation with some soldiers from another regiment and, essentially, they didn't like the fact I was gay," James Wharton told Forces of the incident. At the time, Harry was his tank commander. "They were sort of chest poking me and making me feel quite uncomfortable.

Apparently, when Wharton got back to his tak, the royal could tel something was off in his demeanor and asked about it.

"I told him that there were a couple of soldiers outside who weren't very happy with the fact I was gay,' Wharton recalled of the 2008 incident. "Quite offended that his gunner was being picked on by these people, Prince Harry went out and saw these socilers and spoke to them, and the problem went away.

"He told them off and they left me alone." The ally we truly need.

Wharton went on to say that the royal was a well-liked and effective officer.

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Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.