Photographer Misan Harriman defends his friend Prince Harry amid criticism over his claims about the royals in new Invictus Games documentary – saying he’s ‘proud’ of the Duke’s work

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s friend, who has captured some of the couple’s most cherished family moments, has said he is “proud” of the duke for his new Netflix series.

The week Heart of Invictus was released on the streaming service, Misan Harriman shared a gloomy black and white photo of Harry, 38, on his Instagram account and heaped praise on him.

Mr Harriman, 46, who photographed important family moments for the Sussexes, including Princess Lilibet’s first birthday party, praised both the Duke and the Invictus Games themselves for helping to improve the lives of wounded veterans.

In the photo, taken during the Invictus Games 2022 in the Netherlands, Prince Harry stands alone, wearing a black shirt. Looking up, he reveals the leather necklace with a silver pendant that he has long cherished and first started wearing in 2004 when he was dating Chelsy Davy.

The post comes amid criticism of some of Prince Harry’s claims in the documentary, including that he was offered little mental health care after returning from Afghanistan.

Mr. Harriman, who lives in London, wrote: ‘I am so proud of this man and the incredible space of healing that is (The Invictus Games)’.

He continued, “Countless lives have been changed by the very real sense of community that Prince Harry has built with the Invictus Games.

‘I took this photo on the last day of last year’s matches in The Hague. You can get very far with empathy and purposefulness.’

He then posted several hashtags, including “mental health,” “be kind,” and “support our veterans.”

While many fans have gone frantic at Prince Harry’s new documentary and the heartbreaking stories of wounded veterans featured in it, others have taken issue with the duke’s apparent lashes at his family.

The Duke of Sussex told the series that coming home from the conflict in Afghanistan in 2008 caused the trauma of losing his mother, Princess Diana, but that “no one around me could really help.”

This is despite Harry previously praising his brother Prince William and several close friends for trying to persuade him to enter therapy to deal with the impact of his mother’s death.

Speaking to Bryony Gordon on a podcast in 2017, he recalled how they told him, “Look, you really have to deal with this. It’s not normal to think that nothing has affected you.’

Speaking to the Mad World podcast at the time, the Duke claimed that his mental health struggles were “unrelated to Afghanistan” but that it was due to the fact that he had suffered the death of his mother, Princess Diana, 20 years ago. previously brought into the public eye. .

In September 2020, Mr. Harriman, who has two daughters with Camilla Holmstroem, became the first black male photographer to shoot a British Vogue cover in its then 105-year history.

The Duke of Sussex takes viewers behind the scenes of the Invictus Games 2022 in The Hague in the Netherlands in the series

Mr Harriman (pictured) has captured several treasured moments from the Sussexes’ family life, including Princess Lilibet’s first birthday party

The activist-themed cover featured English footballer Marcus Rashford and model Adwoa Aboah, while Mr Harriman worked with a predominantly black team on set.

A year earlier, the Duchess of Sussex guest edited the September issue, traditionally the magazine’s most important of the year.

Photography is Harriman’s second career, having previously worked in finance, but he has proved prolific since getting behind the lens.

He has photographed everyone from Demi Lovato and Ed Harris to Elton’s husband David Furnish. Elton and David are old friends of Harry and Meghan.

The photographer told British Vogue during the couple’s second pregnancy announcement shoot that the Duchess of Sussex had thanked him for helping him find love with Prince Harry, saying: “Meg reminded me that if I didn’t meet her a mutual friend had suggested, she wouldn’t. met Harry. I’m grateful for whatever little part I played’

He was a wedding guest at their 2018 nuptials, and Harriman shot a birthday portrait of the couple’s one-year-old daughter Lilibet last year.

The Southbank Chair has released a series of three photos taken at a ‘casual, intimate backyard picnic’ hosted by the Sussexes at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor on June 4, 2022, after being one of just a handful of selected guests invited to attend the small gathering. along with his wife and their two daughters.