Prince Harry discussed his life as the “spare” to his older brother and heir to the British throne in his memoir. Now, a new documentary is detailing something that may explain just why Harry feels the way he does.
In The Real Crown, the former head of the British Army relayed a conversation he had with the late Queen Elizabeth II about her grandsons going to war. Here’s what he said the queen told him.
General says queen decided Harry could fight but risk of William fighting was ‘too great’
Queen Elizabeth initially wanted both William and Harry to fight in Afghanistan when the war broke out in 2001, but her feelings changed. The Mirror noted that in The Real Crown, Army General Sir Mike Jackson broke protocol by revealing details of his private audience with the queen.
The Chief of the General Staff from 2003 to 2006 said: “I will break the rule about not divulging what goes on on this one occasion when [the queen] was very clear. She said, ‘My grandsons have taken my shilling, therefore they must do their duty’ — and that was that. But it was decided that for William, as heir to the heir, the risk is too great. But for his younger brother, the risk was acceptable.”
Harry served in the British Army for 10 years and did two tours of Afghanistan. Prince William served seven years of military service and joined the Royal Air Force as a search and rescue pilot but was not in combat.
As explained in the documentary William was stopped from joining the war, despite wanting to, due to his position as future king. Mark Cann, director of the British Forces Foundation, said in the series: ‘William was very keen to go. Unequivocally … But it was complex, and some very great minds and experienced people took a view on it.”
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Prince Harry revealed his kill count in ‘Spare’
The Duke of Sussex opened up about his time in the military in his autobiography and claimed that he killed 25 suspected Taliban insurgents during combat in Afghanistan.
According to Harry, the number “wasn’t a statistic that filled me with pride but nor did it make me ashamed. When I was plunged into the heat and confusion of battle, I didn’t think about those as 25 people. You can’t kill people if you see them as people. In truth, you can’t hurt people if you see them as people. They were chess pieces taken off the board, bad guys eliminated before they kill good guys. They trained me to ‘other’ them and they trained me well.”
Multiple outlets including CNN and the Associated Press reported that several active duty and British military veterans believe Harry’s remarks about killing suspected Taliban soldiers is worrisome because it puts his safety, his family’s safety, and the safety of others in the military community at risk.
Duke of Sussex explains why he decided to share that information
In January while on a promotional tour for Spare, Prince Harry appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and talked about why he chose to share that information in his book.
“I made a choice to share it because, having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to be able to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame,” he said. “My whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides.”
How to get help: In the U.S., call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or 1-800-273-8255. Or text HOME to 741-741 to speak with a trained crisis counselor at the free Crisis Text Line.
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