Who says that just because someone comes from a powerful family (or has friends in a powerful family) that means they not only don’t have to make the same sacrifices that other less powerful people seemingly feel they don’t have to make — but that they can’t DEMAND that they make the same sacrifices? Already he’s a role model for many politicians and their relatives who advcate others’ sacrifices in various countries:
Prince Harry has threatened to quit the Army unless he is sent to the front line, it was reported.
The Prince and his older brother, Prince William, have previously made it clear they are determined to see active service with their units.
Harry, 21, was commissioned earlier this month as a second lieutenant in the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals, the Army’s oldest and most senior regiment.
The Blues and Royals have been deployed in almost every major Army operation of the past two decades, including the Falklands, both Gulf wars, Bosnia and Kosovo.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Harry told senior officers at Sandhurst….on April 12: “If I am not allowed to join my unit in a war zone, I will hand in my uniform.”
As this AP piece notes, there are other issues involved given Harry’s expected future role — but Harry sees an overriding issue:
This poses serious problems for the advisers tasked with protecting William and Harry, the second and third in line to the throne, and those fighting alongside them.
A spokeswoman for Clarence House said: “Prince Harry is very clear that he is joining the Army, and the Household Cavalry in particular, to serve his country as an operational soldier.”
But she added: “On occasion there may be some circumstances in which his presence could attract additional attention, which could lead to additional risk to those he commands or himself.
“In these instances it is a judgment call which would principally be made by his commanding officer.”
We’d say this report pretty much negates any negative publicity in Britain’s tabloids about the young prince over the past few years.
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.