Well, this was unexpected. Of all the things we thought Prince Harry would discuss in his memoir Spare, the reveal that he’s killed a couple dozen people was definitely not on our Tell-All Bingo card.
We knew he’d served in the military, we even heard he was a legitimate soldier, a combat helicopter pilot, and not just some kind of royal token symbolically putting on a uniform. But the fact he really killed people? And this many? That’s a bit of a shock if we’re being honest. As is the frank way he writes about it.
In excerpts obtained by multiple sources, Harry says he flew six separate missions which resulted in the “taking of human lives.” Not only that, he explains that while soldiers didn’t always know their kill counts, “in the era of Apaches and laptops” he can say “with exactness” how many people he’s killed.
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He was deployed in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2008 and again in 2012, that second tour flying an Apache attack helicopter. As part of his service there, his unit was providing helicopter support to the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan forces in the Helmand province. During that time, he writes, operating the weapons, he knows he personally killed 25 Taliban fighters.
25 people. Wow.
He says he was taught to dehumanize the enemy in order to take lives, that “you can’t kill people if you see them as people.” He says instead he looked at them as “chess pieces removed from the board” or “Baddies eliminated before they could kill Goodies.” He says even today he doesn’t feel shame about his actions, though he doesn’t feel satisfaction either.
The question is… should he really have put this in the book??
Multiple military personnel have spoken out since to point out this kind of public admission isn’t social standard. According to the AP, retired Royal Navy officer Rear Admiral Chris Parry said making the public claim was “distasteful.” Iraq war vet Colonel Tim Collins agreed that publishing a kill count violated an unspoken rule — and is just “not how you behave in the Army; it’s not how we think.”
Some are more worried about Harry specifically making such a public revelation. Royal Marines vet Ben McBean, who actually knew Harry in the military, explained to Sky News:
“I don’t think it is wise that he said that out loud. He’s already got a target on his back, more so than anyone else.”
They aren’t kidding. The Taliban, who returned to power in 2021, has already responded. Prominent member Anas Haqqani wrote on Twitter Friday:
“Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return.”
Harry no longer has the security he did when he was a working member of the royal family either. If they did want to retaliate, it would certainly be easier these days. What a chilling thought…
What do YOU think of Harry making such a shocking claim??
[Image via Anwar Hussein/WENN/ABC News/YouTube.]
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