Harry 'painted target on his back with comments about killing Taliban'

Harry has painted a target on his back with comments about killing 25 Taliban, ex-Army colonel says, claiming that spilling details on operations amounts to a ‘betrayal of the people he fought alongside’

  • Prince Harry details 2012 tour of duty in Afghanistan in his tell-all memoir Spare
  • Reveals he killed 25 Taliban fighters and thought of them as ‘chess pieces’
  • Former marines, army colonels and MPs criticised his decision to spill details

Prince Harry has been criticised by military veterans and MPs after he revealed in his memoirs that he killed 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Former British Army Colonel Richard Kemp yesterday said the Duke of Sussex’s decision to spill details in his upcoming autobiography ‘Spare’ amount to a ‘betrayal of the people he fought alongside’.

Kemp told The Sun the comments have simply painted a bigger target on the Prince’s back after Buckingham Palace stopped providing him with personal security when he relinquished his royal duties. 

‘It undermines his personal security. He has shot himself in the foot… it will probably incite those who want to take revenge and try and do so.’

Kemp’s stark warning came as former Royal Marine Ben McBean, who Harry hailed as a ‘hero’ after he lost an arm and a leg in a bomb blast during the war, urged the Duke to ‘shut up’, while Colonel Bob Stewart – a Tory MP who commanded British troops in Bosnia – slammed the comments as ‘distasteful’.   

Mr McBean tweeted today: ‘Love you #PrinceHarry but you need to shut up! Makes you wonder the people he’s hanging around with. If it was good people somebody by now would have told him to stop.’

Former British Army Colonel Richard Kemp yesterday said the Duke of Sussex’s decision to spill details in his upcoming autobiography ‘Spare’ amount to a ‘betrayal of the people he fought alongside’

Former Royal Marine Ben McBean, who Harry hailed as a ‘hero’ after he lost an arm and a leg in a bomb blast during the war, urged the Duke to ‘shut up’

Mr McBean tweeted today: ‘Love you #PrinceHarry but you need to shut up! Makes you wonder the people he’s hanging around with. If it was good people somebody by now would have told him to stop’

Picture dated 03/11/2012 of HRH Prince Harry (right) or just plain Captain Wales as he is known in the British Army, races out from the VHR (very high ready-ness) tent to scramble his Apache with fellow Pilots, during his 12 hour shift at the British controlled flight-line in Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan

Picture dated 12/12/2012 of HRH Prince Harry making his early morning pre-flight checks on the flight-line, at Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache Helicopter Pilot/Gunner with 662 Sqd Army Air Corps

Meanwhile, the MP for Beckhenham told MailOnline of Harry’s comments: ‘I wonder why he is doing such things. Real soldiers tend to shy away… People I know don’t boast about such things. They rather regret that they have had to do it.’ 

Colonel Stewart, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Order after seven tours of Northern Ireland and leading UN forces in Bosnia, went on: ‘It is also rather sad that a man who has had all these advantages in life seems so intent on destroying himself and the monarchy.

Meghan was ‘offended’ when she was ‘reprimanded’ for telling Kate that she ‘must have baby brain’

‘I feel really sad for the King. Because the King is a good man. I have met him a few times, he was my colonel of the regiment. He is a very sensitive decent man and this will be really hurting him a great deal, all this furore.

‘I just think it is so sad because so many people have not had Prince Harry’s chances in life, and the whole thing seems to be a bit tragic.’

Another Tory MP, who did not want to be named, said Harry’s behaviour was ‘bonkers’, adding: ‘He is bringing everything into disrepute.’

The Duke of Sussex, who was known as ‘Captain Wales’ in the military, wrote in Spare that he did not think of those killed as people but instead ‘chess pieces’ he had taken off the board. 

Harry, who during his second tour flew an Apache attack helicopter, said it was ‘not a fact that filled me with satisfaction, but I was not ashamed either’. 

This is the first time that Harry, 38, has spoken about the number of insurgents he personally killed during his time in Afghanistan, where he was stationed in both 2007-8 and 2012.

In Spare, the Prince said that he flew on six missions that resulted in the ‘taking of human lives’ in his leaked autobiography.

While many soldiers do not know how many enemies they have killed in combat, the Duke wrote that ‘in the era of Apaches and laptops’ he was able to say ‘with exactness’ the number of insurgents he killed.

Prince Harry pictured making early morning pre-flight checks in the cockpit of his Apache 

Prince Harry pictured during his second tour of duty at Camp Bastion, southern Afghanistan, in 2013

The MP for Beckhenham told MailOnline of Harry’s comments: ‘I wonder why he is doing such things. Real soldiers tend to shy away…’

The prince was first deployed to Helmand province as a forward air controller in 2007, but his first tour of duty was cut short when an Australian magazine broke a media embargo by mistake. 

Harry reportedly detailed the shock revelation in his tell-all memoir Spare that has been leaked days before it was due to be published

However, he returned in 2012 with the Ministry of Defence publicising his second deployment on the understanding that the media would allow him to get on with the job at hand.

After he learnt to fly Apache helicopters, Harry was deployed to Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan in 2012 where he stayed for 20 weeks.

During his 2012 tour, Harry helped provide helicopter support to the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan forces operating throughout Helmand province. 

Based out of Camp Bastion, 662 Squadron Army Air Corps, to which he belonged, flew more than a hundred deliberate missions over 2,500 flying hours, providing surveillance, deterrence and, when required, close combat attack capabilities as well as escort duties for other aircraft.

Prince Harry qualified as a co-pilot gunner in February 2012. 

He was posted to 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, to gain further flying experience and to operate the Apache on a number of exercises before deploying to Afghanistan in September 2012.

Prince Harry in Helmand province Southern Afghanistan in 2008

Prince Harry reveals he took cocaine a ‘few times’ aged 17 

 

Harry trained to fly in the front seat as the mission or aircraft commander but the majority of the time operated the Apache’s sights, sensors and weapons systems. 

The revelation of how many enemy combatants he killed could escalate fears for his personal safety as Prince Harry has been long-regarded as a terrorist target due to his royal status and military links.

It comes amid an ongoing legal battle with the Home Office not to provide full police protection for Harry and his family when visiting the UK.

The Duke’s barrister said he ‘does not feel safe’ when he is in the UK, having lost his taxpayer-funded security when he and his wife gave up royal duties. 

He has previously been regarded as a target for terrorists due to his two deployments to Afghanistan, as well as being a member of the Royal family. 

Harry revealed some details of his deployment to Afghanistan in 2013 after returning home.   

Asked if he had killed during his deployment in 2013, the 28-year-old prince said: ‘Yeah, so lots of people have. The squadron’s been out here. Everyone’s fired a certain amount.’

Prince Harry patrolling the deserted town of Garmisir in 2008

Harry brands William his ‘arch-nemesis’ who ‘he was always in competition with’ 

 

He added: ‘Take a life to save a life, that’s what we revolve around. If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game.

‘I’m not here on a free pass…our job out here is to make sure the guys are safe on the ground and if that means shooting someone who is shooting them, then we will do it.’

Harry was hailed by his colleagues and superiors as being ‘on top of his game’ during the tour.

He was given no special treatment and worked, ate and slept in the same basic conditions as the other pilots. It was, in his own words, ‘as normal as it’s going to get. I’m one of the guys, I don’t get treated any differently’.

He admitted that his work was interspersed with periods of intense boredom while waiting for a call-out and he whiled away his time watching DVDs and playing computer games.

He even allowed himself to be photographed wearing a Santa hat, complete with blond plaits, to make his colleagues breakfast at Christmas and turn on their festive lights.

His father Charles, he revealed, had sent him a food parcel containing a jar of Clarence House garden honey and a box of huge Cuban cigars. 

Harry’s tell-all autobiography Spare was due for publication on January 10 but has already gone on sale in Spain.

The book leak also reveals:

  • King Charles pleaded with his warring sons William and Harry not to make his ‘final years a misery’ at meeting following death of Prince Philip; 
  • Harry called his therapist before his wife Meghan after being ‘knocked to the floor’ by his brother;
  • Duke of Sussex claims William and Kate told him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party;  
  • Princes Harry and William refer to each other as ‘Willy’ and ‘Harold’;
  • King Charles allegedly told Harry’s mother Princess Diana on the day that he was born: ‘Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare – my work is done.’ 

Prince William ‘pointed a finger’ at Meghan and called her ‘rude’ during furious row sparked when Duchess told Kate she ‘must have baby brain because of her hormones’, new book claims

Jack Wright for MailOnline and Kate Mansey, Assistant Editor for the Mail On Sunday 

Prince Harry has sensationally claimed that his brother William called Meghan ‘rude’ and ‘pointed a finger at her’ during a furious bust-up after the Duchess of Sussex told Kate that she must have ‘baby brain because of her hormones’.

Details of the alleged row have appeared in Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare, which has been published in Spain. 

Harry writes that Meghan made the comment during the run up to the Sussexes’ wedding in May 2018. After apparently upsetting Kate, Harry says Meghan apologised and insisted that is how she speaks to her friends.

But Harry then claims that William ‘pointed a finger at Meg’ and thundered: ‘Well, it’s rude, Meghan. These things are not done here’. Meghan then allegedly retorted: ‘If you don’t mind, keep your finger out of my face’.

Harry writes that Meghan made the comment during the run up to the Sussexes’ wedding in May 2018. Meghan is pictured with Kate here in 2018 at an event in London


During the run up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018, Harry writes that Meghan told Kate that she must have ‘baby brain because of her hormones’

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate watching a fly-past to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force in 2018 

A well-placed source told the Mail: ‘In the book Harry says that there was a discussion about the timing of the wedding rehearsal and the flower girl dresses and Kate was very upset.

‘Meghan said that Kate must have ”baby brain” because of her hormones.

‘It caused a huge row because Meghan was told that she wasn’t close enough to her sister-in-law to discuss her hormones and it wasn’t the way people spoke to each other within the Royal Family.

‘The book makes clear that Meghan felt the fall-out wasn’t her fault, but it doesn’t exactly make her look very good either.’

In an extraordinary development, Harry – who reveals that the brothers called each other ‘Harold and Willy’ – details the extent of the rift between the brothers. Using language in the book that appears designed to shock, Harry describes his brother as ‘my Archnemesis’.

Harry, Meghan, William and Kate at Westminster Abbey in March 2018 

The detail about the fight between the women, however, gives the fullest account yet about how the bitter rift extended to their wives.

Meghan first discussed the row with Kate during her interview with Oprah Winfrey two years ago.

When Oprah asked if reports were true that she had made Kate cry, Meghan replied saying ‘the reverse happened’, adding: ‘It made me cry and it really hurt my feelings. It was a really hard week of the wedding and she was upset about something but she owned it and she apologised.’

Harry will reveal that the brothers had countless physical fights from childhood upwards.

One of the worst in recent years was over the way in which William shared his views on Meghan.

Meghan being interviewed during her and Harry’s recent Netflix documentary  

A source said: ‘Harry doesn’t hold back on William, He writes that William told him: ‘Meg is difficult, she’s rude, she’s abrasive. She’s been rude to the staff.’

‘Harry says that William called him names, that he wanted Harry to agree with him but that he became enraged when Harry ‘had the audacity not to follow the script’. William grabbed him by the collar, ripping his necklace and pushed him to the floor.’

More allegations look set to emerge not only from the book but during a third television interview, the Mail has learned.

As well as television appearances with Anderson Cooper in the US and Tom Bradby for Britain’s ITV, Harry has granted another interview to broadcaster and former American football player Michael Strahan.

The 90-minute interview with Strahan is expected to be broadcast on US television early next week to coincide with Tuesday’s book launch. 

A source said: ‘There will be many more revelations and discussion about the book so the Royal Family will want to brace themselves.’ 

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