Prince Harry: ‘Pampered Coward’ Or Corpse?
GO Harry! Don’t go Harry! You going to the bar, Harry?
Much debate around Prince Harry’s comings and goings.
Anorak thinks he should go to Iraq. And that he should take on the enemy dressed in his old Nazi outfit. The insurgents share many of the Nazi ideals and Harry may be taken into the viper’s nest, a place in which he can inflict maximum damage.
But others are less than sure.
This from Mark Lawson in the Guardian:
“The dilemma over whether Troop Commander Harry Wales should be placed in the line of fire is, though, symbolic of the problem that the royal family and their supporters face in modern Britain. The PR effort of the last 20 years has been dedicated to suggesting that the royals live like anyone else – paying tax, supporting football teams, inviting ordinary people to their houses.
“But the presence of the prince in the army at a time of a failing and dangerous war pushes this process of tactical normalisation to its ultimate test. Can a son of the ruling family be asked to risk his life in the way that so many of his grandmother’s subjects already have?”
And:
“All but the most demented anti-war or anti-monarchy campaigners must conclude that it’s better, in human and practical terms, for him to be called a pampered coward than to be brought home a corpse.”
Finally:
“The problem is that soldiers are expendable but princes are protected, and so the professions are incompatible. You either have a royal family or you don’t, but the idea that a member of a family ruling by divine right and bloodline can be treated just like anyone else is ridiculous. The logic of rule by blue bloods is that their precious liquid will be protected. The charade of being one of the men should never have been attempted.”
Never mind, Harry. But if you ask nicely, the Army might let you keep the outfit…
Posted: 27th, April 2007 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
