Prince Harry: For King or For Country?
The lie that the U.K. is drawing down its forces in Basra and will be out of Iraq altogether in the not too distant future because the area has been stabilized has had an unexpectedly serious consequence that has a name:
Henry Charles Albert David Wales, who is better known as Harry Prince of Wales.
Prince Harry, the dashingly handsome (handsomely dashing?) 22-year-old son of Prince Charles and the late Lady Diana, is third in line of succession to the British throne, but has more pressing business to take care of before he is fitted for a crown and scepter.
Harry is a cornet in the Blues and Royals, a mechanized tank regiment of the Household Cavalry in the British Army and his unit is scheduled to rotate to Iraq. Harry’s job would be to lead a force of Scimitar armored reconnaissance vehicles on the Iraq-Iran border.
Scimitars are fast and agile, but they also are especially vulnerable to IEDs and there is some question about whether Prince Harry’s superiors will let him get his hands dirty considering the level of violence in Basra and thereabouts. The British casualty rate has been skyrocketing and nearly 30 soldiers have died in the last month.
For his part, Harry has made it clear that he will leave the Army if he is left in safety.
So what’s a commanding general to do?
Robert Fox, writing in The Guardian, observes that:
Undoubtedly we will get the usual blather from ‘friends of the prince’ in the red-top tabloids saying that ‘Harry will quit the army, if he is refused Iraq’ etc, etc. The army chiefs are mindful of not inviting a publicity own goal after the navy’s self-inflicted bruises to image and ego with the soap opera of the Tehran 15. In the great list of operational problems now facing the forces and the government, Harry is little more than a footnote. The way things are going in Iraq and Afghanistan, his commanders know they have bigger and more serious fish to fry.
As someone who is 100,000th or so in line of succession to the throne (I’m not making this up), I heartily concur.
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7 Responses to “Prince Harry: For King or For Country?”
He has not made it clear at all. A unnamed source has said that he would quit and others, including at least one general, have if they were him that they would quit in the same situation. Of course there are as many “sources” saying that he would never quit over it.
By the way Scimitars are small armored reconnaissance vehicles, not tanks.
Every “Scimitar” out there will be targeted just to get the Prince. This would have propaganda value. Question is, will they still fight for King and country when put in “unfair” harms way?
However, after the sailor/marine “kidnapping” incident, it would appear that the British military needs leadership examples. What better leadership example can there be when a King leads his Army into battle? In this circumstance, the grandson of an extraordinary Queen, and, the future King’s son, young Prince William, defender of the realm?!
Personally I am touched by Prince Williams willingness to sacrifice for Queen and Country. You can bet your sweet arse that George Bush’s drunken daughters will never see military service. Not that a President is equal to a Queen, mind you.
Eric:
You’re right, Prince Harry doesn’t give press conferences, but it is an open secret and widely reported that he wants to get his hands dirty.
As for the Scimitar, it has tracks like a tank and Harry is in a tank unit, so I’m kinda stuck with calling it a tank.
Shaun Mullen- Armored reconnaissance vehicle Shaun. A bulldozer has tracks but that don’t make it a tank. The difference being the big gun of course, but more appropriately the armor plate. A tank can withstand far more in the way of an IED than a lightly armored reconnaissance vehicle.
There really is a difference because the Prince is much more vulnerable than if he were inside an actual main battle tank. He is in what is kind-of like the special forces of the tank corps. The “go out and find the enemy” type guys.
Eric and WA:
Thanks.
I find this issue amusing since it used to be the job of kings to lead their forces into battle. Now people want to keep their royalty as far as possible from the battlefield.
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