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blackswaneuroparedux · 2 years

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Penman47 asked: Please explain why Prince Harry was stripped of his service medals by the queen. I have always heard that Harry served with distinction so what happened? Any idea how members of the armed forces felt about this action?

No, not quite true. There is a confusion between medals and titles.

Harry has not been stripped of his service medals - those earned in actual military service. But he was stripped of his honorific titles which was part of the deal/price (delete as appropriate) when he decided to step down as a working royal and make a new life with his wife, Meghan Markle, and pursue other life goals. Honorific titles are totally at the pleasure of HM Queen Elizabeth II - she can giveth and she can taketh away, so to speak.

Let’s unpack this a bit more.

Prince Harry spent ten years in the British Army. After passing out of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was first commissioned as a Cornet (second lieutenant) with the (Blues and Royals regiment (Household Cavalry) and later in the Army Air Corps as an Apache combat co-pilot, where he rose to the rank of Captain. He served in Afghanistan on two tours on the frontline and shared the same risks as everyone on the frontline. As a consequence he was awarded the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan in 2008, as all soldiers who served did. In 2002, Prince Harry was also given the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal which was awarded to active personnel in the British Armed Forces and Emergency Personnel who had completed 5 years of qualifying service. In 2012 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. This was a was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. I think about 450,000 medals were awarded only to members of HM Armed Forces (regular and reserves) who had served longer than five years.

In 2015, Prince Harry was made Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO). The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the reigning British monarch. It was awarded at the discretion of the Queen. She clearly thought Harry merited such an award for his years of royal service. In other words, he earned it as a royal.

In February 2022 Prince Harry was awarded the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal which is a commemorative medal created to mark the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. It was awarded to people across many walks of life and professions. Within the Armed forces, it was given to personnel who had completed 5 years of service by 2022. It was also given to members of the Royal Household with at least one year of service.

Prince Harry was also given other foreign awards such as the Order of Isabella the Catholic by Spain in 2017.

So one way or another Prince Harry earned his medals, in or out of uniform. In other words, as a civilian, he has every right to wear his earned medals and show justifiable pride in them - as any veteran might.

Titles are another thing entirely. Members of the Royal Family all have honorific titles that have links to the armed forces in one way or another. These honorific titles are given to working royals are done solely at the pleasure of HM Queen Elizabeth II. In other words, a royal doesn’t need to have done military service to be honoured in such a way.

Take one of my favourite royals, Anne, Princess Royal. She has received promotions to the rank of General in the Army and to Air Chief Marshal in the RAF and then later rank of Admiral in the Royal Navy. This follows the long-standing convention of military promotions for working members of the Royal Family. She also holds honorific titles in various regiments such as colonel of the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) and colonel-in-chief of the King’s Royal Hussars, Royal Army Veterinary Corps, Royal Corps of Signals, the Royal Logistical Corps etc etc. She also acts as honorary patron of many military themed associations such as the Special Forces Club. You get the idea. The point is soldiers or veterans are rightly proud of having Anne as their colonel-in-chief or as their patron even though she hasn’t served. She is a tireless and dedicated servant and is an accomplished woman in her own right.

So before his dramatic exit from royal life he held three various honorific titles from around 2006 to February 2022. These were: Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington, and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command. By all accounts he was incredibly proud to serve in this capacity and he took it seriously, as one should do.

When he ceased to be a working royal and thus withdraw from royal public life, it was right and correct that he should return those honorific military titles back to the Crown. He is not entitled to wear the military uniform because he left the armed services after his two tours in Afghanistan. He could wear the uniform whilst he held the honorific titles as a working royal but that would come to and end when he stepped back from being a royal of course. As a civilian and as a non-royal he is of course - and should - wear his earned medals with pride.

People are getting worked up for nothing about Prince Harry and confusing medals and uniforms with royal protocols. As things stand only working members of the royal family who hold military rank are allowed to wear military uniforms. This explains why Prince Andrew - lest not forget before his sordid fall from grace was also a combat veteran who served as a Royal Navy pilot in the Falklands War - is also wearing a morning suit rather than a military uniform at his mother’s funeral. Like Prince Harry, he is wearing a morning suit and wearing his earned medals.

As to what army veterans think about this, I can’t speak for everyone of course. I can only say from the few conversations I have had with ex-comrades that I served with or other currently serving in the armed forces. All of them will agree what I’ve said here, which is what’s with all the fuss? Harry should wear his medals with pride as a veteran but shouldn’t wear the uniform because he’s a civilian, and not working royal.

When you add Meghan Markle and the whole media driven drama around their new lives in the US into the mix, then I’m afraid the opinions are quite divisive. That’s my polite way of saying they think it’s a shit show and many pity Prince Harry for being such a cuck.

I have a more charitable opinion however.

I have every fondness for Prince Harry. I can’t bring myself to say a bad word about him because, deep down I think he has a good heart. Sure, we all can make bad life choices - who hasn’t? - but fundamentally our character remains the same.

Moreover, unlike previous and present royals - with the exception of his grandfather, Prince Philip, who did active naval service during the Second World War and his uncle Prince Andrew, who as a naval officer flew Sea King helicopters during the Falklands War - he didn’t play the ceremonial toy soldier. After Eton he worked his arse off to get through Sandhurst and got commissioned with the Blues and Royals regiment. Trust me, as someone who has gone through Sandhurst, you do not get a free pass. You take your future role as an officer deadly seriously for serving men’s lives are in your hands. Upon the outbreak of war in Iraq, he was alleged to have said around 2006, “There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country.”

So he fought so hard to go out and fight for Queen and Country as a royal. The military chiefs relented at first and then later got cold feet and pulled him out. But he did see active service with the British forces in Afghanistan with two tours. By all accounts he acquitted himself very well as a Forward Air Controller in Helmand Province and later as a co-pilot and gunner on Apache helicopters. I served in the Army Air Corps after his tour and by all accounts he was seen as a good egg. He was widely respected and accepted by rank and file because he was down to earth and never asked for special treatment. He wasn’t a typical ‘Rupert’ - a squaddie’s nickname given to British army officers who typically came from privileged aristocratic backgrounds but were also ‘nice but dim witted’.

On top of his service, he went out of his way to establish the Invictus games which was for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans in 2014. People often overlook how invaluable these games are for veterans. Of course that’s where he met Meghan Markle and well, the rest is history, or a Netflix drama in the works.

At the end of the day, I wish people would cut some slack to Prince Harry himself. The poor man is here to mourn his beloved grandmother and yet has the misfortune to do so in the glare of millions. Many are watching every move to tease out any clue to fuel further scandals and bust ups. Frankly I find it all quite tawdry and disrespectful to the late Queen whose memory we’re supposed to be honouring.

Thanks for your question.

#ask #question #prince harry #queen elizabeth II #elizabeth II #honours #british army #war #military #afghanistan #funeral

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