Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

Top Menu

  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
  • Islamic Culture
  • Da’wah
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

logo

Header Banner

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
    • Making Sense of Pakistan

      April 16, 2022
      0
    • How Should We View the War in Ukraine?

      March 30, 2022
      0
    • The India Hijab Issue from an Islamic Perspective

      March 24, 2022
      0
    • DEEP DIVE: The Weaponisation and Politicisation of British Citizenship Laws

      March 12, 2022
      0
    • Our Role in the Ukraine war is to Expose the Propaganda

      March 2, 2022
      0
    • Muslims Should Rejoice Over the Islamic Ruling System

      January 21, 2022
      0
    • Another Warmonger Honoured for Serving the British Elite

      January 2, 2022
      0
    • The Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh Victory Day (Bijoy Dibos): a cause for ...

      December 13, 2021
      0
    • Playing Politics with the Uygher Muslims

      December 2, 2021
      0
  • Islamic Culture
    • Reading Quran

      The story of the man who was told to “Enter Paradise” and ...

      January 24, 2022
      0
    • Significance of Rabi’ul-Awwal

      October 10, 2021
      0
    • Virtues of the Month of Muharram

      August 10, 2021
      0
    • The significance of first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah

      July 10, 2021
      0
    • The Honour of the Prophets

      April 30, 2021
      0
    • A to Z of Ramadan

      April 19, 2021
      0
    • The Dawah to Allah (swt)

      December 29, 2020
      0
    • Miracle of the Quran

      Q & A - Compilation of The Holy Quran During the Reign ...

      December 27, 2020
      0
    • Imam Bukhari: A Role Model for the ‘Ulema and Da’wah Carriers to ...

      November 17, 2020
      0
  • Da’wah
    • Public Demonstration - Independence Not Intervention

      April 22, 2022
      0
    • VIDEO : [LIVESTREAMED] Pakistan in Crisis: The Players, Politics, and People

      April 20, 2022
      0
    • Ramadan Message: The World Needs Islam - We Must Work for the ...

      April 1, 2022
      0
    • The India Hijab Issue from an Islamic Perspective

      March 24, 2022
      0
    • Ramadhan event: Kyiv to Kabul: The World Needs Islam

      March 20, 2022
      0
    • Obituary of a Dawah Carrier Dr. Youssef Haj Youssef

      December 30, 2021
      0
    • Open Letter to Imams and Muslim Leaders

      September 28, 2021
      0
    • Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain Sends Delegation to Chinese Embassy Condemning the Inhumane Treatment ...

      June 30, 2021
      0
    • Jahangir Raja: Obituary of a Da’wah Carrier

      June 28, 2021
      0
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
News Watch
Home›News Watch›Prince Harry: I’ve killed in Afghanistan. But Dad wants me to act like a prince

Prince Harry: I’ve killed in Afghanistan. But Dad wants me to act like a prince

By Press Editor
January 22, 2013
790
0
Share:

At end of four-month tour, Captain Wales describes his time at Camp Bastion and frustration with sections of the media

Prince Harry has flown out of Afghanistan at the end of a four-month tour, during which he admitted killing insurgents while piloting his Apache helicopter and spoke in rare depth about the tensions and frustrations of being a royal who craved life out of the spotlight.

He also revealed his disdain and distrust of some sections of the media and described how his father constantly reminded him to behave more like a member of the royal family.

A commander of the army’s most sophisticated attack helicopter, the prince said he had fired on the Taliban during operations to support ground troops and rescue injured Afghan and Nato personnel. His remarks may be seized upon by insurgents to stir anti-British sentiment, but the prince said he was only doing his job. Most of the time the helicopter acted more as a deterrent, he said.

“If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game, I suppose,” he said. “Take a life to save a life … the squadron’s been out here. Everyone’s fired a certain amount.”

In a series of interviews during his time based at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, he hinted at the difficulty of reconciling the different roles in his life. The prince, known as Captain Wales in the army, explained his “three mes”. “One in the army, one socially in my own private time, and then one with the family and stuff like that. So there is a switch and I flick it when necessary.”

He admitted he sometimes “let himself down” with his laddish behaviour, which he put down to “probably being too much army, and not enough prince”, but he said he was entitled to privacy too.

In another unusually frank exchange, he aimed biting criticism at the media, particularly the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, three of the royal family’s most ardent supporters in Fleet Street. He said he was particularly annoyed at articles comparing his role as an Apache co-pilot gunner with Spitfire crews waiting to scramble during the second world war. “No it’s not like that at all,” he said. “I don’t know who quoted that.” Referring to the phone-hacking scandal that hit News International, he said: “I think it was probably the Sun newspaper, but because we haven’t got mobile phones out here they obviously can’t bug our phones so they don’t know what we’re saying.”

The prince said his suspicion of the media was rooted in the treatment of his family when “I was very small”, but that he couldn’t help monitoring the stories written about him. “Of course I read them,” the prince said. “If there’s a story and something’s been written about me, I want to know what’s being said. But all it does is just upset me and anger me that people can get away with writing the stuff they do. Not just about me, but about everything and everybody. My father always says, ‘Don’t read it’. Everyone says, ‘Don’t read it, because it’s always rubbish’.”

The prince was posted to Afghanistan last September to command a £45m Apache helicopter – one of the military’s most sophisticated and well armed aircraft. During his tour the Apaches flew missions supporting Nato troops fighting the Taliban, and accompanied British Chinook and US Black Hawk medical helicopters during casualty evacuations.

Four years ago the prince had to be spirited out of Afghanistan during his first tour after a media embargo was broken by mistake by an Australian magazine. This time, the Ministry of Defence chose to publicise his deployment on the understanding that newspapers and broadcasters would not give a running commentary on his life out there to allow him to get on with his job. Two-man crews from the BBC, Sky and ITN were sent once each to report on his visit, while a photographer and a reporter from the Press Association were embedded on all three visits.

Asked whether he felt more comfortable being Captain Wales than Prince Harry, his reply was one of the most revealing he has given about his relationship with Prince Charles: “Definitely. I’ve always been like that. My father’s always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that. But it’s very easy to forget about who I am when I am in the army. Everyone’s wearing the same uniform and doing the same kind of thing. I get on well with the lads and I enjoy my job. It really is as simple as that.”

Shortly before he went to Afghanistan the prince was caught in another media furore, when pictures emerged of him frolicking naked in Las Vegas during a private party. Harry said he had let himself down, but also blamed the media. “I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down. But at the end of the day I was in a private area and there should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect. It was probably a classic example of me probably being too much army, and not enough prince. It’s a simple case of that.

“The papers knew that I was going out to Afghanistan anyway, so the way I was treated from them I don’t think is acceptable.” He added: “Certain people remind me, ‘Remember who you are, so don’t always drop your guard’.”

Asked where he and his brother’s fascination with helicopters came from, he said: “Probably the fact that you can only fit a certain amount of people in a helicopter, therefore no one can follow us, like you guys.”

Guardian

Previous Article

The Politics of Evolution

Next Article

Prince Harry’s Interview: shameless war propaganda

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • News Watch

    Pakistan outrage after ‘Nato attack kills 25 soldiers’

    November 26, 2011
    By Press Editor
  • News Watch

    2 US warships cross Egypt’s Suez Canal enroute to Libya

    March 12, 2011
    By Press Editor
  • News Watch

    Saudi Arabia Reins in Its Clerics on Syria

    June 19, 2012
    By Press Editor
  • News Watch

    Prominent Uzbek Cleric In Critical Condition After Sweden Shooting

    February 23, 2012
    By Press Editor
  • News Watch

    Diane Abbott: Left must find voice in society warped by fast food, booze and net porn

    January 4, 2013
    By Press Editor
  • News Watch

    India and Pakistan to resume talks

    February 10, 2011
    By Editor

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Liberate Al Aqsa

Join US on Telegram

Podcast

Latest Posts

Press Releases

Protest in London Says No To More Democracy, Yes to the Khilafah

Members of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain, alongside supporters from the Muslim community, gathered on Saturday 7th May 2022 at the Pakistan High Commission in London to protest against US ...
  • Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain to Protest American Interference in Pakistan’s Politics

    By Yahya Nisbet
    May 1, 2022
  • Public Demonstration – Independence Not Intervention

    By Editor
    April 22, 2022
  • VIDEO : [LIVESTREAMED] Pakistan in Crisis: The Players, Politics, and People

    By Editor
    April 20, 2022
  • The Geopolitics of Badr

    By Editor
    April 17, 2022
  • Making Sense of Pakistan

    By Editor
    April 16, 2022
  • Muslims in Britain Should Speak Out Against the Pakistani Leadership’s Surrender of Kashmir

    By Yahya Nisbet
    April 15, 2022
  • Muslims in Britain should support the call for the Khilafah in Pakistan

    By Yahya Nisbet
    April 12, 2022
  • Press Centre