Prince Harry faces outcry at Nazi costume

[Alex252]

 
Prince Harry faces outcry at Nazi outfit
By Neil Tweedie and Michael Kallenbach
(Filed: 14/01/2005)

In pictures: Tearaway Harry

Politicians, pressure groups and religious leaders queued up yesterday to criticise Prince Harry after the publication of a photograph showing him wearing Nazi insignia at a private party.

 
The furore surrounding the Prince has made headlines around the world
The 20-year-old prince, who is third in line to the throne, was castigated by, among others, the Tory leader Michael Howard, the Israeli foreign minister and survivors of the concentration camps for wearing a crude imitation uniform including a swastika armband.

The furore, which has made headlines around the world, represents a new low for the prince, whose late teenage years have been characterised by a facility for "hell-raising", including excessive drinking, cannabis use and taking a swing at photographers.

But there were some willing to defend him, describing the outcry over the photograph, published by The Sun, as excessive.

Calls for Prince Harry to be stripped of his place at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst fell on deaf ears.

A senior Army official said there was no question of the prince not beginning his instruction in May.

"He is most emphatically not a liability. We take the same attitude to the prince as any other cadet.

"I am quite sure there are plenty of cadets who display lack of judgment, but we never hear of them because they do not end up in The Sun."

 
Prince Harry on the front page of the Sun yesterday
Harry and Prince William were among some 250 guests at a fancy dress party last Saturday at the home of the Olympic triple gold medallist Richard Meade to celebrate the 22nd birthday of the horseman's son, Harry.

Many there were members of the Beaufort Hunt, favoured by the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Prince Harry was shown holding a drink and a cigarette and dressed in a shirt altered to look like a German uniform by the addition of collar flashes and an eagle insignia on the chest.

But the most offensive part of the amateurish ensemble was the red, white and black swastika armband.

The costume was apparently meant to represent the Afrika Korps - a rather odd interpretation of the birthday party's "colonial" theme.

Few guests were prepared to discuss the event, but a number did say that Prince Harry had behaved well during the party.

Guests were not particularly shocked by the costume but some thought it ill-advised and bound to attract publicity.

Clarence House swiftly issued a written statement from the prince apologising for any offence, and there were indications that he received yet another dressing down from his father.

There were plenty of others waiting to give the prince a telling off.

Silvan Shalom, the Israeli foreign minister, said: "Anybody who tries to pass it off as bad taste must be made aware that this can encourage others to think that perhaps that period was not as bad as we teach the young generation in the free world."

Mr Howard, who is of Romanian Jewish parentage, was not satisfied with the statement, arguing that the prince should account for his actions in public.

"It would be appropriate to hear from him in person," he said. "It is something which will disappoint very many people and offend very many people. It might be appropriate for him to tell us himself just how contrite he is."

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre urged the prince to visit Auschwitz for instruction in the horrors of the Nazi regime.

The camp will be the scene of a large international gathering this month marking the 60th anniversary of its liberation. The Earl of Wessex will represent the Royal Family, with the Queen attending a British survivors' event in London.

Doug Henderson, a Labour backbencher and former Armed Forces minister, said the incident demonstrated that Prince Harry was unfit to go to Sandhurst and called for him to withdraw his application.

"I don't think that this young man is suitable," said Mr Henderson.

 

[George Wallace]

A definite case of bad Judgement......but look what happened to these guys:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6818054/?GT1=6065

GW

 

[Armymedic]

Yeah, whatever!  :

First, some friggin numbty is making a mint from that picture,

second, while I have to agree the swastika on the sleeve was a tad much, this is a storm fueled by the simple fact he is a Royal. The average citizen wearing the uniform of the Wermacht Afrika Corps (not the SS), wouldn't even raise an eyebrow at a private costume party....

To say his unfit for military collage because of it...

ludicrous.

 

[R031button]

As a prince and a future officer, he is expected to demonstrate a slightly higher standard then the rest of us. I don't know about you, but my Master Corporals always told me that being in the service of the Crown meant being held to a higher standard; I would expect that higher standard to be displayed by the Crown itself.

 

[MikeM]

I agree, although it was a poor decision to wear the uniform.. if it were an "average joe" I doubt it would raise that much of an issue, if any.. and certainly not one worthy enough to make the media. However, since he is a royal.. he has to keep in mind stuff like this will almost certainly come out in the paper.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

He made a youthful mistake- were any of you mistake-free at his age?   I wasn't. Probably makes a good lesson for him.   He should apologize, make a real effort to learn about the holocaust and endeavour to do better in the future.

IMHO he is not disqualified from future service to his country or the commonwealth.

 

[winchable]

While he is a royal, he's also a 20 year old male.
The idea of divine royalty is pretty much out the window, so I wouldn't flip out at the lad.

If anything this strengthens my belief that royals should do military service, I think many of us can attest to the fact that service will straighten people out.
Other than this, Harry is immensley involved in his mothers charities as well as having devoted his GAP year to working in an orphanage in the developing world...so, whatever mistake he made at a costume party I think for the most part he's shown quite a bit of promise (Compare him to any British Prince in waiting historically and you'll find he's probably head and shoulders above many)

 

[1feral1]

He has made a certified fool of himself, and embarrassed the Royal family, especially in the 60th anniversary of the end WW2 (VE) in May. No doubt this will insult many Vets throughout the Commonwealth.

Although he is 20, he must always remember who he is, and what his family represents within his own country and around the world. Very bad choice of costume.

My 2 bob.

Wes

 

[SeaKingTacco]

He has made a certified fool of himself, and embarrassed the Royal family, especially in the 60th anniversary of WW2. No doubt this will insult many Vets throughout the Commonwealth.

Although he is 20, he must always remember who he is, and what his family represents within his own country and around the world. Very bad choice of costume.

Wes-

No disagreements here with what you said, but I don't think it should be a hanging offence either.

 

[Gilligan]

  It's true, he does have to remember who he is at all times, he's a member of the Royal family, 3rd in line to the thrown.  He'll be a Prince for life, and has had a very rough life what with his mother and father divorcing, then his mother being killed, his brother being teen hearthrob and all, he's got a lot to rebel against, you can't say he's a horrible person for that.  He didn't choose to be a Prince, and he can only be Mr. Perfect Prince so much without just wanting to relax and be like a normal 20 year old and goof around a bit.  His costume taste was in poor taste, whether or not he's a Royal, he screwed up, he has apologized for it, and will publicly soon I've heard.  As said he's been actively working with his mother's charities, and doing aid work around the world, so one (well a few) things done in poor taste as a young man should hardly count as a terrible character flaw, thus I say why should he be unfit for military service....maybe he just needs to grow up a bit first.

 

[winchable]

maybe he just needs to grow up a bit first.

I would say that's why he needs to do it!

 

[onecat]

"Although he is 20, he must always remember who he is, and what his family represents within his own country and around the world. Very bad choice of costume"


Well he is only twenty, and lets face when your twenty you don't make the wisest of choices, or really think things though.  I'm sure it knows its a misstake now and in future wouldn't dream of dressing that way.  A bad choice is just that a bad choice, now many peopel here haven't made at least one.  And add to that he royal. from a totally disfunctional family, who never actually interact with normal people... only makes that much easier to make wrong choices.

 

[1feral1]

Wes-

No disagreements here with what you said, but I don't think it should be a hanging offence either.

I agree, it aint no hanging offense,  but its a bad 'faux pas', and does not show much respect for the older generation (who not so long ago gave their tomorrows for our todays), and again if it was you or I nothing would be said, but look at the position he is supposed to hold. Ya, 20 yrs old, but a 20 yr old prince, 3rd in line to the throne.

BTW I am not a monarchist at all, and I am as about as non PC as you can get, but I do know decorum and understand what common sense is.

Cold beers,

Wes

 

[Kirkhill]

I figure he is in good company.  Pierre Trudeau was wearing similar gear around the streets of Montreal when he was that age (somewhere round about 1940).  At that rate he makes a first class candidate not just for military college but for senior public office in Canada.

 

[Shec]

He gets my vote for:

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

I think this is part of the problem why we are not comfortable around Royals and they are not comfortable around us. Yes, we hold them to a higher moral standard then us but is that really fair? He wore a Nazi uniform and while clearly a poor choice, he is a young male adult, if he is allowed to make mistakes he can learn from them. If people keep telling them how perfect they are suppose to be as Royals, then how are they going to grow as people and learn from their mistakes? He will learn a valuable lesson from this if he is allowed and should be permitted to move on.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Have to agree with Ex here, as a society we are all about second chances, especially when it comes to criminal offenses but very eager to hang somebody just for the crime of being a " somebody" and screwing up.

 

[RCA]

Since he is moving into the military (as an officer, although I'm not sure if its Sandhurst), his instructors should knock the immaturity off. By the time he is finished, you should see a different young man.

 

[Goober]

The best way to learn, is from your mistakes. However, the British press are loving this, and making it out to be more than it is, which is a poor costume choice by a 20 year old kid.

 

[Infanteer]

The only reason he is being subjected to this is because he is Royalty.  Now, does anyone feel that this presents a moral quandary in a democracy where the continual presence of the monarchy is sustained?

Being a democratic nation, the Prince is a citizen like any other, no more and no less (ie: subject to the rule of law, etc, etc).  However, because he inherited a role in the figurehead of the Commonwealth, this kid is immediately tagged with additional responsibilities and expectations.  Is this really fair to any members of the monarchy?  In a system where such an important role is inherited (Head of State), it is unfair to have these people unwillingly thrust into the limelight, with their adolescent foibles picked at by the public.  In proper democratic fashion, anyone could run for public office, holding them and their family up to public scrutiny.  But to just throw this responsibility and scrutiny on a child because of who his Grandmother is is a tad unfair.

Maybe he just wants to be a rockstar or a street-sweeper or something (which is entirely acceptable in a liberal democracy) - but because of our insistence of an inherited institution, he never really got the chance to do so because expectation (along with the paparazzi) was lumped on him and and his brother from day one.

My grumbling of the day....
Infanteer