According to a report, Prince Harry wants to quit the Army. But not because of what some may assume the reason would be. Not because it’s too dangerous — but because he is not being allowed to fight in the most dangerous hot spot of all:
Prince Harry plans to quit his officer career with the British army after being refused to serve in Iraq, according to a report in the British Daily Mail newspaper.
The 22-year-old has told friends he ‘just couldn’t face the humiliation’ of being refused to serve on the frontline, the paper quoted a source close to the prince.
Most of the recent reports about the Prince and military service have painted the portrait of someone who truly wants to be on the front lines like all his other comrades. This is one more piece of a portrait of someone who seems quite admirable (he did not scream “DAD!! It’s not right!” when whisked to his first post):
A spokesman for the prince insisted late on Friday: ‘Prince Harry remains committed to his Army career,’ although a royal source was also quoted as saying: ‘It is up to him how long he wants to stay in the Army. No one will put pressure on him either way.’
A friend of the prince was quoted as saying that Harry was also depressed that he would not be allowed an alternative deployment in Afghanistan.
Yet another tidbit that fits in with previous reports about his attitude towards military service. AND:
The source said Prince Harry, third in line for the British throne, realized that the situation in Iraq was too dangerous for a member of the royal family, the report said.
‘He is trying to be positive about what has happened because the situation out in Iraq is so unusual, but knows in his heart of hearts that pulling him out was the death knell for his Army career,’ he said.
In future, the prince would prefer to focus on his humanitarian aid and promote the aid organization Sentebale which he set up in memory of his late mother Diana to help aids orphans in the southern African Kingdom of Lesotho.
Still, the attitude of the bigwigs keeping Prince Harry from serving where he’d like to serve is completely understandable. What better trophy could “insurgent”/terrorist forces have than Prince Harry — dead or alive?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.