A veteran who served alongside Princes William and Harry wants the brothers to help him tackle the military’s mental health crisis.
Ex-Blues and Royals soldier Paul Minter set up a charity after losing 15 friends to suicide. He ran 5,000 miles round Britain’s coast as part of a £3million fundraising drive. But he feels he can do even more with royal assistance.
Paul, 36, was caught up in two blasts and completed four tours of duty in Afghanistan and one in Iraq before he was medically discharged with PTSD.
His charity Head Up is now planning to open a countryside retreat for veterans suffering from mental health issues.
He said: “I lost 11 friends from 2015 onwards and another four while I was doing the run. This needs to stop and this is why I started the charity.
“It would be great to get Princes William and Harry on board. Harry served with the Household Cavalry in Afghanistan and fought with us. As far as we are concerned, he is a soldier and always will be so. It would be great if William and Harry could do something with Head Up in the future or work alongside us.
“Harry and William are very military-minded and mental health is a huge thing for both. I spoke to both Harry and William numerous times in the regiment. I’m certain they know who I am and I have been told that they are aware of the charity.”
Paul joined the Blues and Royals aged 17 in 2003. He served in D Squadron with William and later in the same regiment as Harry.
He describes both as “friendly and engaging”.
Paul was almost killed in Afghanistan during a Taliban ambush in 2006.
He recalled: “Our vehicle went through but the second got annihilated. It was destroyed and everyone in it died. They then got us trapped and fired rocket-propelled grenades at us.”
Captain Alex Eida, 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Johnson and Lance Corporal Ross Nicholls were all killed in the attack.
Paul said: “Coming back from that, no one said, ‘Are you OK?’ I spent 15 years in the Army before I heard anyone talk about mental health.”
Paul, who was a staff corporal – a unique Blues and Royals rank – returned to Afghanistan on three more occasions, during which he saw friends die.
But by the time he returned from his fourth tour in 2015, he was suffering from anxiety, depression and paranoia. He was diagnosed with PTSD before being medically discharged in 2020.
Paul, of Leamington Spa, Worcs, added: “Head Up’s goal is to reduce the number of suicides within the military community. We’ll do this by empowering people to turn things around before their issues have the chance to become life-threatening.”
The Sunday People ’s Save Our Soldiers campaign is calling for a complete overhaul of the way the Ministry of Defence handles mental health issues.
Kensington Palace declined to comment and Prince Harry ’s representatives did not respond.
