The Archive

You're in the army now

...but don't worry, you don't have to go to war, because you're a prince.

That's right, I'm sure you're all aware that Prince Harry, the spare to the throne will not be joining the lads in the desert after all.

Now whilst I have sympathy with the decision not to put him and all the chaps around him at risk, surely a soldier who you can't send to war on the grounds that 'people have expressed a desire to kill him' is not much use to you at all.

And although he is, admittedly, a big target, what do they think the insurgents want to do with the regular British Tommy? Shake his hand and buy him a pint of beer and a packet of Camels?

Nope, as I understand it, all the soldiers are at risk of getting killed. Otherwise it wouldn't be a mission to Iraq so much as a holiday wouldn't it?

Harry himself is said to be 'upset' about this decision, which is fair enough, it's what he's trained for after all.

Ha! Bollocks is he. Can anyone truly say they're disappointed not to be sent into the path of hot lead flying at hundreds of miles an hour towards you?

You'd have to be daft. Mind you, he only has 2 A levels, in Art and Geography (so that's about .75 of a real A level then), so maybe he's being honest.

Oh, that reminds me. Great piece on the news this evening. Speculating "What's next for Harry?" they wondered what he could do if he left the army.

On the plus side, they noted, he was well placed for employment because he had training with the Army and did a lot of good work for charity.

In the minus column was his lack of a degree and crappy A-levels.

Then, and only after they'd discussed these pros and cons as if potential employers would be weighing them up and considering the candidate for interview, they add "And then of course there's the royal connection".

Royal connection?! I should say so.

For me, though, I hope they let him stay in the army but put him into duties that don't involve patrolling or getting into firefights.

Like, for example, laying land mines.

Now that would be funny.

posted by Peter The Great @ 9:30 PM