Prince Harry’s military comrades dismayed at ‘unnecessary’ claim of 25 Taliban killings

‘There are obvious security implications in saying things like this,’ a colonel tells Kim Sengupta

Prince Harry in an apache helicopter ( )

Prince Harry served bravely and well with the military in Afghanistan. One questions why he chose to announce that he had killed 25 Taliban fighters; it was not just distasteful but also raises the security risk for him and his family.

The Duke of Sussex does not glory in the deaths in his leaked memoir, Spare. But talking about those he killed from an Apache helicopter-gunship not as “people” but as “chess pieces” that “had to be taken off the board” sounds crass. It may be a mindset he needed to get into for combat, but saying this publicly about a fallen enemy, however much one might be against what they stood for, was the wrong thing to do.

It is surprising that the prince chose to introduce a body-count into the narrative of his Afghan experience. He had a good war, fulfilling his duties diligently and not seeking any special treatment for his royal status.