DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Harry's crass comment that endangers our troops trends now
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It is hard to overstate the profound dismay which has greeted the Duke of Sussex’s tell-all memoir.
Even Harry’s most ardent sympathisers would concede that in trashing his brother and disclosing private remarks made by his grieving father at Prince Philip’s funeral, he has managed to insult both his family and the institution to which he owes his gilded existence.
But of all the revelations splashed across 550 pages of rage and self-pity, none threatens to carry more serious ramifications than the prince’s irresponsible boast of killing 25 Taliban fighters during his 20-week tour of Afghanistan in 2012.
Not only was his reference to those he killed as ‘chess pieces’ deeply offensive, his comments are also a shameful betrayal of his former comrades.
But of all the revelations splashed across 550 pages of rage and self-pity, none threatens to carry more serious ramifications than the prince’s irresponsible boast of killing 25 Taliban fighters during his 20-week tour of Afghanistan in 2012
As Andrew Neil points out in the pages opposite, the prince has broken one of the Armed Forces’ most long-standing omertas: Never brag about your kill count.
Indeed, many of us have loved ones who have fought bravely for their country yet would never dream of discussing something quite so personal as to whether they killed anyone, least of all publicly.
Small wonder, then, that both senior military personnel and veterans have reacted with horror to Harry’s indiscretion.
On top of that, the prince’s comments demonstrate an extraordinary recklessness, especially when you consider how much he understandably stresses the need to protect his family.
By antagonising the extremists, he
