Prince Harry’s revelation that he killed 25 people while serving as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan has been criticized by an MP who was a commanding officer in the army and a Royal Marine who the Duke of Sussex once described as a hero.
In his bombshell autobiography, Spare, Harry reportedly writes about his two tours of Afghanistan, in 2007/8 and 2012/13.
The Telegraph, which obtained a Spanish language copy of the memoir from a bookshop in Spain, says Harry describes the “din and confusion of combat” and says he did not think of those he killed as “people” but instead as “chess pieces” that had been taken off the board.
He says his aim was to ensure “baddies eliminated before they could kill goodies” and that he felt neutral about killing that number of people. He says he would watch a video of every “kill” from a camera attached to the nose of the helicopters he flew.
“It seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number. So, my number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me”.
The revelations have been criticized by the Conservative MP for Beckenham Bob Stewart, who questioned why the duke was being so open about his time in the army.
“I wonder why he is doing such things,” Stewart told the Daily Mail. “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.
Stewart, who served seven tours in Northern Ireland and led UN troops in Bosnia, added: “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.”
Further criticism came from former Royal Marine Ben McBean, a double amputee who shared a transport plane back from Afghanistan with Harry and who was described by him as a “real hero”.
McBean tweeted: “Love you Prince Harry but you need to shut up! Makes you wonder about the people he’s hanging around with. If it was good people somebody by now would have told him to stop.”
Chris Ryan, a former SAS sergeant turned author and TV presenter, tweeted: “Very strange thing to announce considering that he left the UK in order to keep his family safe. Is it something that he thinks might endear him to a US [Military] fan base?”
