A Royal Pain
Posted by lizdavies on April 27th, 2007
So, here’s the question of the day – should the Ministry of Defence allow Prince Harry to be deployed to Iraq? The key word here is ‘allow’ - he wants to go, and that’s admirable. But surely Harry isn’t naive enough to think that just because he wants to go to Iraq like an ordinary soldier everyone (including those making the British Army their targets) will just suspend their disbelief and treat him as such?
This is not an issue that can be viewed differently depending on whether you’re a monarchist or anti-monarchist. Put bluntly, my worry is not that a possible heir to the throne might be killed in the horrific manner scores of other soldiers without the privilege of the Prince’s background are each month. It’s that Harry’s very presence puts these other lives at immeasurable risk.
A member of the Royal Family serving on the front line is the perfect target for anyone wanting to put a spanner in the works of the British government. As Joan Bakewell says, they would be hard-pressed to treat his injury or (extremely likely, I would say) kidnap as if Harry were the ordinary soldier he so laudably aims to be. Yes, it’s tragic that Harry should not be allowed to fulfil his ambition because of a position he was unavoidably born into. But causing many other loyally-serving men to lose their lives needlessly because he can’t see that (regardless of general ambivalence about the position of the monarchy) he will always be seen as extra-ordinary is inexcusable.
Prince Harry Can’t Really Do His Duty in Iraq [The Independent]
The Army’s Royal Dilemma [BBC]
Harry Stuck Between Iraq and a Hard Place [Guardian newsblog]
Filed under: defence, foreignpolicy, iraq on April 27th, 2007
This may be a stupid question, but how will the people who want to blow him up know who he is? They all look the same in their camouflage gear. Unless the insurgents have very good insider knowledge they’ll probably just blow up random other people instead (which is exactly your point Liz!)
So sorry I didn’t reply to this – that wasn’t in any way meant to signify that it was a stupid question. It’s actually something that makes a lot of sense.
But everyone knows which regiment Harry’s in, and someone told me that he’ll have ‘Wales’ emblazoned on his helmet, so I don’t imagine that, for someone who might make it their life mission, he’d be that difficult to find.