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The commander of British forces in Afghanistan in 2006 has sounded a warning that Prince Harry’s claims will serve as more ‘propaganda ammunition’ for Taliban supporters
The Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare, to be released next week, reportedly reveals that the prince killed 25 people while serving as an Apache helicopter pilot – claims that some experts believe may even put the him in danger.
Earlier, a former commando hailed by Prince Harry as a hero urged the disgruntled royal to “shut up” as the alarming revelations emerged about his time on the frontline in Afghanistan.
Fuel for radicalisation
Retired commander Colonel Richard Kemp told BBC news that Harry’s account “will radicalise people, it will potentially be used to incite and encourage others to carry out attacks, including British people in this country”.
“Talking about ‘chess pieces’ and not human beings…that feeds very much into the narrative that the British Army went into Afghanistan and other places as callous, cold-hearted killers… which of course is far from the truth,” Kemp said,
“The Taliban and others will use Harry’s statements to prove that that’s the case,” he said.
The Taliban administration itself has issued a statement on the claims.
“The western occupation of Afghanistan is truly an odious moment in human history and comments by Prince Harry is a microcosm of the trauma experienced by Afghans at the hands of occupation forces who murdered innocents without any accountability,” said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the foreign affairs ministry.
Royal silence
The sensational stories emerging from leaked copies of the Duke of Sussex’s looming memoir also bring into question whether there is any hope of a reconciliation with his father, King Charles, and brother Prince William.
“I believe he will never be forgiven,” one royal source told Britain’s Mirror.
“After everything he has said about privacy and intrusion, this is hard to comprehend. His words are so vicious and targeted.”
Neither Buckingham Palace nor Kensington Palace has commented on any of Harry’s latest claims.
On Friday, after the revelations emerged via a leaked copy of Spare and its accidental early sale in Spain, former Royal Marine Ben McBean took to Twitter.
“Love you Prince Harry but you need to shut up! Makes you wonder the people he’s hanging around with. If it was good people somebody by now would have told him to stop,” he wrote.
Mr McBean followed up with: “I’m saying not everything he’s gone though with his family needs to be exposed to people like me and you. If his brother kicked him in the shin we don’t need to know.”
Now 33, Mr McBean lost an arm and a leg in Afghanistan. He shared a plane back to Britain with the prince, who described him as a “real hero”.
According to Britain’s Telegraph, which obtained a Spanish copy of Spare, Harry says his aim on two tours of duty to Afghanistan was to ensure “baddies [were] eliminated before they could kill goodies” and that he felt neutral about those he had killed.
“It seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number. So my number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me,” he writes.
More criticism came from a Tory MP and another former soldier, Bob Stewart.
“I wonder why he is doing such things,” Mr Stewart told the Daily Mail.
“Real soldiers tend to shy away. People I know don’t boast about such things. They rather regret that they have had to do it.
Stewart, who did seven tours in Northern Ireland and led UN troops in Bosnia, added: “I feel really sad for the King. Because the King is a good man. I have met him a few times, he was my colonel of the regiment. He is a very sensitive, decent man and this will be really hurting him a great deal, all this furore.”
SAS veteran Chris Ryan, now an author and TV presenter, tweeted: “Very strange thing to announce considering that he left the UK in order to keep his family safe. Is it something that he thinks might endear him to a US [military] fan base?”
Security ‘nightmare’
Spectator magazine chairman and veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil warned the prince’s “stupid” comments might make him a security risk.
“Harry’s claim that he killed 25 Taliban is a nightmare – an absolute nightmare – for his security teams. How stupid can you be”? Neil wrote.
The war claims are just two of the sensational anecdotes to emerge from Spare. On Thursday, the first claimed that Harry said Prince William “knocked me to the floor” during a violent argument over Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle.
“It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me,” the book recounts.
Other allegations revealed in leaks and early copies include:
At a tense meeting at Windsor, after the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, the King pleaded with his sons to stop fighting.
“Please boys, don’t make my final years a misery,” the then Prince of Wales said.
Harry also claims that William and wife Kate encouraged him to wear the fancy dress Nazi uniform that sparked outrage in 2005.
There is also a detailed story of a heated exchange between the brothers and their wives. Harry claims that Meghan upset Kate, who had recently given birth, by telling her that she must have “baby brain” in a phone call ahead of the Sussexes’ 2018 wedding.
Harry alleges that Meghan apologised but William “pointed a finger” at her, saying: “Well, it’s rude, Meghan. These things are not done here”, to which the duchess responded: “If you don’t mind, keep your finger out of my face.”
‘Mum has had a car accident’
Elsewhere, the prince revealed how he learned of his mother’s death. He writes that his father sat on the end of his bed at Balmoral Castle and told him: “My dear son, mum has had a car accident.”
The duke claims his father did not hug him and that he later “felt like a politician” as he greeted the public following her death.
He goes on to reveal that he and William told their father they would welcome the then Camilla Parker-Bowles, now Queen Consort, into the family as long as he did not marry her and “begged” him not to do so.
Spare also outlines Harry’s use of cocaine in 2002, when he was 17. He says he also did “a few more lines” at other times.
“[It was not] fun and it did not make me feel as happy as it seemed to make others but it did make me feel different and that was my main goal. To feel. To be different,” he writes.
There is also a salacious tale of the prince losing his virginity to an older woman in a paddock behind a “very busy pub”. The woman treated him like a “young stallion”, Harry reveals.
“I mounted her quickly, after which she spanked my ass and sent me away,” he writes.
He also claims to have met a woman who passed on a message from his mother. Harry said the woman, who “claimed to have ‘powers’”, told him Diana was “with” him and that she knew he was “looking for clarity” and “feels” his confusion.
Harry is about to embark on a publicity blitz for his book. They include an appearance next week on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and two long interviews for US 60 Minutes and Britain’s ITV.
In Australia, the Seven Network will air the ITV interview on Monday.
