Actually, Prince William was also supposed to be deployed in the Afghan war, but the succession to the throne took precedence. The risk for Harry, on the other hand, was classified as “acceptable”.
London – Twice was Prince Harry (38) deployed in Afghanistan from December 2007 to February 2008 and between 2012 and 2013. His second deployment subsequently caused severe criticism, as Harry talks about it in his biography “Spare” (German: “Reserve”), 25 To have shot the Taliban who “would not have counted as people” for him. “They were pawns to be knocked off the board, bad guys to be put away before they could kill the good ones.”
“William really wanted to go”: Risk for the heir to the throne was too high
Like his younger brother Harry, Prince William (40) trained at the Sandhurst Military Academy. This was followed by pilot training with the Royal Air Force and special training as a helicopter pilot. William ended his military career in 2013 after he and wife Kate Middleton, 41, welcomed baby George, now 9. The new documentary The Real Crown: Inside the House of Windsor” broadcaster ITVX now reveals that the Queen actually wanted to send Prince William to Afghanistan.
In the five-part documentary, former army chief General Sir Mike Jackson (79) reports on a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II (96, † 2022), at which the then monarch informed him that both Prince Harry and Prince William were in Afghanistan should be used. “She was very clear. My grandchildren have their duty to do. But it was decided that the risk was too great for William as heir to the throne. But for his younger brother, the risk was acceptable.”, says Jackson in The Real Crown. William was disappointed by this decision.
William really wanted to go. Clearly. But it was complicated and some very experienced people thought about it. Anyone who’s in the military and hasn’t actually been on the field feels disappointed.
Prince Harry felt like his brother William’s stand-in all his life
With his deployment in Afghanistan, Prince Harry followed in the footsteps of his uncle Prince Andrew (63), who served in the 1982 Falklands War. Today’s King Charles III. (74), on the other hand, it was forbidden to go to war – like his son William later. And even if Prince Harry speaks positively about his time in the military in “Spare”, it should still affect him that he was considered more expendable than his brother William.
In “Spare” Prince Harry had already described his impressions that throughout his life he had felt like a kind of spare parts store for his brother William. “I was the shadow man, the pillar, the plan B. I was born in case anything happened to Willy,” Harry said in his memoirs. This impression is confirmed by the new documentary, which is to be broadcast in April. Kate and William don’t want history to repeat itself because they don’t want Charlotte, 7, and Louis, 4, to feel like they’re playing second fiddle to future heir Prince George. In order to spare their children this fate, extra sausages are avoided for their eldest. Sources used: express.co.uk, thesun.co.uk
