Days before Prince Harry’s Spare was released, the British tabloids got their hands on a Spanish-language copy and they proceeded to excerpt the book from poorly-done translations. That was when the British media decided that Harry “bragged” about the number of people he killed in combat during his two tours in Afghanistan. Harry did not brag – in Spare, the sections devoted to his combat tours were very thoughtful and, in context, he wrote about the questions every soldier has: does morality have any place on a battlefield, are these righteous kills, are these really “bad guys,” how will I live with the knowledge that I’ve taken these lives? As Harry explained to Stephen Colbert, Harry wrote about his “number” and his tours of duty because veterans need to be able to have these conversations and because he’s trying to prevent veteran suicides. Well, a month and a half later, the current British Defence Secretary hasn’t read Spare but he definitely reads the Sun and the Daily Mail.
The Defence Secretary has accused the Duke of Sussex of “boasting” about the number of people he killed while on tour in Afghanistan. Ben Wallace said that Prince Harry’s kill count revelation in his memoir Spare “distorts” the idea that the British Army is a team.
He told LBC: “I frankly think boasting about tallies…distorts the fact that the Army is a team game. It’s a team enterprise, it’s not about who can shoot the most”.
The Duke was heavily criticised by senior military figures for the revelation that he killed 25 Taliban fighters while he was on tour in Afghanistan. Many warned that he had jeopardised his own security as well as that of others.
Having never previously waded into the row, the Defence Secretary has now accused the Duke of “letting down” his former colleagues in the military.
“If you start talking about who did what, [you’re] letting down all those other people, because you’re not a better person because you did and they didn’t,” he added.
The Duke has previously defended his decision to publish the kill count, saying on a US chat show that his aim was to give veterans the “space” to share their experiences in the military without shame. “My whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides,” he said, denying that he was “boasting” about the figure.
“It’s not about who can shoot the most” – Harry never said it was, dipsh-t. As Defence Secretary, shouldn’t this motherf–ker be concerned about what’s happening to Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans? Shouldn’t he operate with more nuance and thoughtfulness? “If you start talking about who did what, [you’re] letting down all those other people…” Again, Harry’s message to veterans is: talk about it, go into therapy, talk to your friends about what you’re going through, it will save your life. And the g–damn British defense secretary is telling veterans to shut up about their PTSD, they’ll let people down if they talk about what they’re going through?
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.
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- PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Captain General Royal Marines, visits 42 Commando Royal Marines at their base in Bickleigh to carry out a Green Beret presentation at Dartmoor National Park on February 20, 2019 in Plymouth, England.,Image: 535413127, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon (in process) / Avalon
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- PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Captain General Royal Marines, visits 42 Commando Royal Marines at their base in Bickleigh to carry out a Green Beret presentation at Dartmoor National Park on February 20, 2019 in Plymouth, England.,Image: 535413161, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon (in process) / Avalon
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- PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Captain General Royal Marines, visits 42 Commando Royal Marines at their base in Bickleigh to carry out a Green Beret presentation at Dartmoor National Park on February 20, 2019 in Plymouth, England.,Image: 535413200, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon (in process) / Avalon
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- A general view of Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ on sale at Waterstones bookshop at Piccadilly, London, England, UK on Tuesday 10 January, 2023. The retailer opened its doors early at 8am for customers to purchase the book.,Image: 748668805, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- A stock image of Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ in front of Buckingham Palace, London, England, UK on Tuesday 10 January, 2023, which went on sale today.,Image: 748708660, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
It’s clear he did not read Spare.
I’m sure he did, he’s just playing stupid 🙄 Isn’t the British Military UNDER FUNDED 😮 I thought I read an article saying that they can’t even defend themselves if there’s a war 😬
Absolutely did not read so he has no business commenting. This is a man that is deflecting from the press internationally That is highlighting the failing state of the British armed forces and how they are inadequate to protect their own borders should they need to (citing many articles out of Europe especially France). Also he has been known to lie and called out by other military and intelligence officials for his lying and stating he was an intelligence officer when he was actually a low ranking grunt (2018 posts and photos are all over twitter). He is a disgrace.
Well…as Prince Harry says, “Context is everything.” And what’s missing from this textual snippet written by “royal correspondent” India McTaggart reporting on Nick Ferrari interviewing Defense Sec. Wallace?
The audio makes clear that Defense Sec. Wallace response (to the Snare snippet read by Nick Ferrari) is that “every veteran makes their own choices about what they want to talk about in their lives.”
At this point, Ferrari starts badgering, complaining that Defense Sec. Wallace didn’t answer the question. Then Wallace responds, “talking about tallies…distorts the fact that the army is a team game.” Which could sound callous. But the point of the exercise was for Ferrari to bait Wallace enough to cherry pick words for article.
Ugh. British media (aka outrage production complex).
Context matters, seek the source.
@Kirk thx for the info. Taking your word.
Before I saw your post I looked up Wallace and he appears to be 100% solid – nothing jibed with him discrediting / chiding soldiers for sharing their personal stories.
Making the UK defense minister look like a tool to enlisted service folks certainly helps “someone” . Head scratcher that.
On the UK.gov website today, Wallace’s office released a 50+ pg report “ UK women, peace and security national action plan 2023 to 2027”.
Here’s hoping that (seemingly) good ppl like Wallace can make a difference for women in the UK.
Neither the Telegraph article above nor the Guardian article someone else mentioned below give full credit to the poisonous source, citing only LBC radio. But it’s definitely Nick Ferrari of LBC radio. The Wallace interview is only ~10-15 mins and touches on multiple topics. You can find interview subset on YouTube; also specific Harry subset on Twitter.
I listened to the interview and Ferrari was badgering him (Ferrari shouldn’t have asked the question in the first place). Wallace fumbled with his answer. It seemed to be a combo of vagueness and both sidesing. Wallace could have easily said he had no opinion on it. That he’s seen fellow soldiers die in conflicts and fellow soldiers he knows commit suicide. What any soldier chooses to share is up to them. There is no definitive answer.
Wallace has openly shared a story about his group foiling an IRA bomb attempt when he served. Wouldn’t that make him and his fellow squadron targets? That seems to be the point of derangers/BM whining. Harry wasn’t boasting.
There are a number of different gears going on here. Members of the BM/RR/derangers are still completely ignoring the fact that Robert Jobson already wrote about the number of Harry’s kills in his 2008 book, Harry’s War. That number was greater than what Harry confirmed. Harry didn’t boast. He knows he was/is a part of a team. A team that accounted, held a balance sheet for the number of each individuals kills. Why was it okay for Jobson to put out a number for Harry? Where’s the squawking on that?
Wallace is on the list of contenders to become the next Secretary General of NATO if the current one leaves in September. Love that there are also a number of female contenders.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/world/europe/nato-next-secretary-general.html
I’ll admit I don’t know that much about Wallace except he seems to have been in politics longer than he served in the military.
Nick Ferrari appears to have it in for Harry and Meghan. He did not need to ask that question. He deliberately set out to get make a sensational headline, that is all he cares about. Ferrari brags about his days as a tabloid journalist going after stories. Silly Wallace fell for it and should have said that l am here to talk about the war in Ukraine.
Unfortunately Nick Ferrari has become a big fish in the media and a lot of people want to be on his right side, including politicians.
It makes me admire Sadiq Khan, who refuses to be interviewed by him.
It does not give me comfort that Wallace either lacks objectivity and a commitment to factual accuracy, or lacks the cognitive acumen or intellectual curiosity to search for Truth.
That’s someone revealing themselves to be unfit for purpose.
Wallace fell into a trap set by Ferrari who knows that anything to do with the Sussexes is headline news.
Twisting Harry’s words again
Time to move on.
Yeah I believe the exact words were (after talking about veterans having a number that affects their mental health and how they cope): “So here’s my number: 25.”
No boasting, no “I’m so great,” just….here it is: here’s mine. There’s yours. Let’s talk about mental health. Which Harry clarified on Colbert as important because veterans have high suicide rates.
All of the information that Harry provided was already in the public domain. In 2013 it was all of the newspapers and also in a book written by Jobson.
Exactly. This is old news being stirred up for performative outrage. All bc Harry said the words himself as opposed to feeding this info to the rota first.
So when I first saw the headline, my reaction was basically “tell me you didn’t read Spare without telling me you didn’t read Spare.” (that and that he was told to give some anti-Harry talking points to try to reduce his popularity with the military.)
But reading more of what he actually said – its incredibly damaging actually. The defense secretary is telling people not to “talk about who did what” which can be a big problem for military vets. Harry’s whole point was that he WASN’T boasting, but he wanted the number out there so that there could be a more honest conversation about what war was actually like and the impact it could have on the people doing the killing. Because they are people, and they are affected by their experiences in combat zones, and we need to do better to support them when they come back. And here the secretary of defense is minimalizing their need to talk about what they actually did while at war.
The military NEEDS vets and enlisted people to keep quiet. Talking about it will get people questioning and reconsidering what they’ve done, what they’re doing, and their choices. The military is about doing things and obeying orders without question. You get soldiers wondering if what they’re doing it right, and you lose all your soldiers. They don’t want that. It’s sick.
Good point. It’s a very big difference between what the military needs and what military vets might need.
Yes this is a good point because during the Super Bowl I heard commentary that recruitment numbers were down for the military. If you are reminded about the cost of war then you’ll be reluctant to join.
This is the US but I’m sure it’s the same in the Uk.
James O’Brien from LBC was calling him out on his totally irresponsible and false comments.
Isn’t Nick Ferrari a colleague of his at LBC? Perhaps the person needing to be called out for baiting interviewees is closer to home.
Ferrari and O’Brien are colleagues. O’Brien and Tominey were colleagues. Bryony Gordon and Tominey are colleagues. Different points of view. Tominey obviously doesn’t share Byrony’s pov re: the Sussexes.
O’Brien calling out Wallace is something I agree with. Wallace answered the question poorly and the writer India? did cherry pick and frame the conversation into a certain narrative. Wallace had absolutely the choice to say nothing or say, like I said above, he had no opinion or it wasn’t anyone’s place/position to say what former veterans/soldiers should share to move on from their experiences.
I hope Wallace is ruled out for Secretary General of NATO.
James O’Brien is honest and doesn’t play games like Nick Ferrari. Thank god for James O’Brien the voice of reason.
Ben Wallace fell into a trap set by Nick Ferrari. A lot of politicians want to be on Ferrari’s right side, he is a big fish on radio with a big following. I also think that Ferrari is friendly with Jeremy Clarkson.
Ferrari is always whining that Harry looks unhappy and that Harrowing used to be fun, more or less saying that Meghan is the problem.
You really can always tell the people who didn’t read the book. Maddening and so intellectually lazy.
If people are being interviewed who haven’t actually read the book themselves they should just say so.
eg. “I can’t comment on what Prince Harry said because I haven’t read the book myself so I’ve no idea of the wider context of the paragraph you’ve just read out to me.”
End of.
Isn’t war exactly which side can kill or destroy the most of the other side? It’s no wonder veterans have issues with all the gas-lighting and being told to be quiet about everything.
Some of the veterans I’ve known who were involved in this war freely told me their number in just casual conversation. One wanted to put it on his resume. For some it is a brag- they went over there to kill Taliban soldiers and here is how many they killed.
The way it was originally presented I expected Harry’s excerpt to be like my friend’s bragging. Which, I’m not even going to fault him for- I didn’t fight I the war I have NO IDEA what it was like. But when I read the part in Spare honestly I was like “this is it? He just says “my number is 25” and we move on? Where is the controversy here?!:
Maybe their way of coping with killing is to think of it as something great they did? You have to think of the enemy as deserving to die maybe? You’re sent to do a job and do well at it in any other endeavour you are allowed to brag. It has to be complicated for veterans.
I really hate that the UK press are going after Harry’s military career. They are trying to get veterans ( who adore Harry) to hate him and it’s sick. It’s morons like Ben that put the whole UK in a bad light. Harry said he feels happy and safe in the U.S. He has never said that about living in the UK.
I can’t wait until he does press for the Invictus Games Doc and people really see the impact themselves. I also look forward to Düsseldorf when once again the injured veterans who understand what Harry is talking about show him all the love and support.
Thankfully in the US there’s more understanding in regards to mental health for veterans.
Harry will be fine. They won’t destroy anything.
Not just the games, but the Netflix documentary too. This is badly free promo for it. It’s a sign that TPTB are afraid.
Everything that Harry said has been in the public domain. In 2013 all the tabloid newspapers headlines were screaming that Harry had killed the Taliban. Robert Jobson in his book on Harry said that he had killed up to 30.
There was no uproar then. But uproar as Harry tells his own version.
It is maddening and crazy.
I feel like sometimes people don’t realize the extent of what Harry and Meghan are up against. It’s easy to sit on our couches yelling at why didn’t Harry burn it to the ground or say this or that.
Boris and Rishi the prime ministers were constantly asked to comment about Harry and Meghan. Their comments were always geared to supporting the establishment.
Kier Starmer was also asked and at first he supported Meghan but later changed his tune and said Meghan didn’t experience racism.
Now we have the defense sec who has worked with Harry a few times towing the party line.
That why Harry has to move carefully in how he speaks about his family and this institution because there could be serious consequences.
Exactly this! The establishment will protect its interests first and any form of dissent can be crushed, otherwise people might actually start thinking for a second. Tories and secondly the current Labour leadership have the important role of not stirring things up & keeping up the status quo. This is why Harry’s decision to move and, subsequently, the release of his book are important
I believe the Sussexes are being careful. We all know Harry and Meghan could have said much more but their point was not to destroy but to provide clarity. What has been shown from the UK establishment and institution is balls to the wall. They have been doing all they can to destroy this couples credibility and relationships and thus far they are coming off as unhinged. No one can be expected to live a guarded life the entirety of their life in fear. You just live your truth as best as you can because from the UK any utterance from this couple is going to be balls to the wall from this country. I do believe the Sussexes are being as careful as humanly possible.
I agree, and I think Harry didn’t say anything in the book that he can’t back up with solid proof, if pressed. I really don’t think these people want to jump up and down on this particular nerve, for their own good. Can you imagine what will happen if they start showing actual receipts?
Thank you Alarm! Nailed it on the head. I can totally understand why Harry & Meghan move very carefully about what they say about the monarchy. Going against two powerful institutions (the press AND the monarchy) is brutal & they have done so well to still be standing & be sane frankly.
I wish them all the best & hope the upcoming invictus games is super successful.
I’ve honestly think they have angels, ancestors, God, whatever you want to call it watching over them. It’s essentially been a 6 year hate campaign with the press, the royals and the government against them and despite all that they’ve still succeeded.
But I imagine there’s a lot of trauma and ptsd especially for Meghan to work through.. if I were her I would be so ready to move on which I’m glad they are now doing.
It’s all more than one human should have to handle.
I pray for them often.
Agreed Alarm. Harry did an interview with Bryony and he said he told his ghost writer certain things for context but for it not to be included in the book. There is no doubt he is doing that for safety reasons. He can’t burn it all down to the ground, he has to be careful and people really need to understand this.
Hopeful at the 2023 Invictus Games, Harry will address his reasons for speaking of his experience to his Invictus Game colleagues. To me the gutter mail and all these so called military personnel have not read his book and are targeting the very audience Harry has devoted his life to supporting. The gutter British press are incredibly jealous of the love the Invictus community have for their patron and as usual are trying to destroy this relationship with lies. This too shall fail.
He already did in the Stephen Colbert interview that’s been watched over 6 million times. It’s also been written about in loads of articles.
He doesn’t have to address it again though a phone call to Ben to set him straight would be good. They apparently have worked together to try and pass a bill a few years ago. I believe he also has been to Invictus Games.
I saw all interviews and I have followed these accusations as well. I do believe the targets the Invictus Games participants may not be as informed as we are. I continue to hope he will address this in his speech to the Invictus participants who may not have seen and heard all we have. Doing this will hopefully put an end to this nonsense and silence the gutter media re his military acknowledgment in his book.
Recall in the Colbert interview that Colbert pointed out the same information had been in a Reuters article 10 years earlier. So what’s bad about when Harry says it, but is neutral when it’s something media is saying about Harry? Sounds like a bit of a sucker punch for The Telegraph to get someone to comment on something about which they don’t have full knowledge, only selected Telegraph excerpt.
Those associated to Invictus Games know more about Harry and what his creation of it means about his character. Invictus Games even thanked Harry for Spare when it came out. One person pretending to be outraged for something so trivial isn’t going to sway the opinions of vets who participate in Invictus Games. Let’s not forget how every other country that sent athletes to the Invictus Games supported them, while the UK was disgraceful and sent their participants on a bus without words of encouragement. The issue has never been an issue with Invictus participants or even other soldiers knowing where Harry stands, it is with those who are willing to tear him down even at the risk of destroying other soldiers.
perhaps the Defence Secretary is talking from William’s perspective as can be seen from the extract below :
” you start talking about who did what, [you’re] letting down all those other people, because you’re not a better person because you did and they didn’t,”
Remember one Prince went to war but the other Prince did not
Ben Wallace, huh? Well, Tories will be Tories! Nothing new here. Instead of focusing on important matters, let’s all pile on!
If there’s one thing they learnt from Boris (and the BRF) it’s the power of distraction. Get people riled up about nonsense like this to distract them from how cold and hungry they are.
Boom ! This is it exactly.
There is a Twitter screenshot of Wallace getting roasted for pretending he was involved in border discussions in Northern Ireland in 1994. It was quickly pointed out that he was a low level soldier in 94. He then left active service by 98, at age 28, well before 9/11.
I saw this too. He was sarcastic to the person who challenged his assertion implying he knew nothing and the guy shut him down completely with his credentials.
It’s now also in the Guardian. I’ve written a letter saying it was taken out of context.
Good job!
Senior military can feel and say what they want but it’s the soldiers on the ground that respect Harry. So many of them struggle when they get out and I know they appreciate the Invictus efforts. That’s what this guy should be focusing on. And yeah, obviously this guy never read the book.
Took a quick look at his background. He’s not really senior military; he’s been a politician for 20+ years, left the active military in 1998. Was at Sandhurst and served a roughly equivalent amount of time to Harry but opted out of becoming a career soldier. And his direct service experience was in Europe (though including time in Northern Ireland), not in the Middle East, as Harry’s was. He sounds like a Conservative politician because that’s what he is.
That’s what I was going to point out. He’s a Tory politician, not a career soldier.
According to Wikipedia (I know, not the greatest source), he also was part of the military party that accompanied Diana’s body from Paris to London.
So he should know better than to trash Diana’s son.
I knew this man was a loooooong way from active combat. Both in time and proximity. I’d be curious how much of his day is spent visiting and speaking to front-line soldiers. I’m certain it’s very, very little.
@Windy River
As for Ben Wallace’s time serving in Northern Ireland … This government absolutely does not want anyone “talking about who did what” there, demonstrated by legislation to prevent Troubles-related cases from being pursued against members of the British armed forces.
@PunkPrincessPhD – interesting, and not surprising. I’m not British, and didn’t know anything about Wallace, before his name came up here. But I did a tour including Northern Ireland a few years ago. We were accompanied by a local historian on a walking tour of Derry, and heard a lot about the conflict there.
It’s been six weeks since Harry’s book came out officially. These military criticisms pre date that, since they’re from the leaked Spanish copy of Spare. For whatever reason this is being revisited now, Wallace must have been up as the next in line to shill for the party, even though, for someone in his appointed position, demonstrating such a superficial understanding of what Harry was saying is unimpressive and discouraging. Shutting up is free.
Wallace also got roasted a while back on Twitter for pretending he was more involved in Norther Ireland than he actually was.
It’s amazing to see how Harry and Meghan draw out just the absolute worst in people. People are telling on themselves. This guy is terrible and a danger to vets.
It was important for Harry to precisely tell about his tours of Afghanistan. It will be very embarrassing now for anyone in the RF to wear a uniform when they actually were never in the military, and let Harry stand with them in a suit. That was the whole point!
I think that the political situation in the UK is only getting worse and the governement really need the tabloids on their side to stay in power so parroting the narrative is not surprising. Not sure if that is going to help them.
It’s really and truly sick how firmly the Brit-shit media has woven their lies and distortions into the general Brit population’s heads. This guy is supposed to be a respected member of the British military and he makes himself look like a complete and utter imbecile. I fear there is no hope for any of them at this point.
I wonder if this dip💩 defence minister served himself or if he’s just another Tory chicken hawk. In any case, this shows us how far up the British media’s arse the current government is. Read the damn book!
I looked it up. He served in the Army following Sandhurst training in the nineties. This was well before the heavy combat the British military saw in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t like talk of who did what.
Which probably means he’s never seen combat.
I am no fan of Ben Wallace or the Tory government, but serving in NI in the 90s was no picnic.
He was in Northern Ireland for a while, so would’ve seen some things, as @EBS says. But, that was a different kind of combat from what Harry was doing in Afghanistan, remote controlled aerial warfare that even Harry said often seemed impersonal; videotaped, and then replayed (relived?) at the end of the day. That’s a whole different kind of potential trauma Wallace wouldn’t have experienced in his own role – and in any event, he’s been a politician for the last 20+ years. Harry said, “Afghanistan was a war of mistakes, a war of enormous collateral damage…and that always haunted us.” That’s what he was addressing in Spare.
He was in Northern Ireland for a bit but also Germany and Cyprus, the last two not being hotbeds of anything.
He is also quoted at leaving active service at age 28 because he “liked commanding people” and didn’t see many more opportunities coming up. Of course 9/11 was 3 years later but this guy didn’t rejoin active service because this military service was going to be his prop for his political career.
I think some of the people commenting in media haven’t read the book. Harry wasn’t boasting, he was taking accountability. He was being realistic about what war is.
I think it’s less to do about who’s read what (hah) and more about hitting their talking points regardless. If it doesn’t suit the narrative they want, they don’t talk about it or spin it wildly out of context.
I really thought they were done talking about Spare though, but I’m guessing talks of the Clowning and Kate’s Revenge Hiring still isn’t doing it for the tabloids’ bottom line.
This politician is an idiot who knows nothing about his Defence Secretary portfolio. Team, he rants. Well, each kill was done by a team. It was a team decision, idiot! The pilot (in this case Harry), had to have 429 Alpha permission from commanders before they could fire.
“Do we have Four Two Nine Alpha to engage?”
Yeah, it’s a “Team!”… right up until you find yourself alone with your thoughts and have to confront what you did, what you saw, and how it makes you feel. Those thoughts and memories contribute to dozens of veterans dying by suicide EACH DAY. “Keep calm and carry on” ain’t working for folks. So, yes, Harry’s talking about it.
Agreed. And to add, besides taking responsibility for what they were ordered to do, the vets have to wonder about all the “ifs”. If we had been given permission to engage would that have saved that village, those families?
War is hell. These vets go through mental hell, each and every day for having done their duty. They act as a team and suffer as individuals.
Give them respect and support.
He did not. This is a lie. And his examination of what he did in war, what soldiers are called to do in war and what is done to them, ends up being quite thoroughly anti-war.
Which is probably what has the British defense secretary’s panties in a twist. When soldiers talk about what war actually means — soldiers kill people in war! That’s what war is! It strips away the lies of warmongers.
OMG😂 the Sussex Spokesperson shutdown the South Park story so now they are back to this! 🙄 I give it 48hrs before this guy is crying he was misquoted & his words taken out of context, just like Harry’s old flight instructor. After that what next for the UK Press? Rehashing who made who cry for the umpteenth time? Claiming so & so snubbed the Sussexes?
The Sussex Spokesperson was right these tabloid stories are ridiculous & BORING.
I’m wondering if he has been misquoted. I can’t find a transcript or a full recording of the interview, just tiny snippets. I can’t find what the interviewer asked. I notice that he doesn’t say Harry’s name in any of the direct quotes. This might be yet another twisted media attack.
Exactly, it seems that Nick Ferrari thinks that asking the Defence Secretary about Harry is as important as talking about the war in Ukraine.
Nick Ferrari is flogging this story to death to get a news story.
I don’t think I realised how much trouble Brits were in until this latest instalment in the ‘let’s use Harry and Meghan to distract from government fuck ups’ saga. Everyone keeps commenting that he didn’t read Spare. He knows damn well what’s in it but that isn’t the point, is it?
While people struggle to heat their homes and feed their children, they’ll be pacified with a steady drip of culture war outrage porn to cover up the fact that their elected representatives have failed them in irrevocable ways. I’m sad for H&M and horrified for the British people.
It’s quite interesting to see the number of professional people I tell I’ve read Spare ask me if it’s like how the media portrayed it, then I have to tell them how beautifully it’s written and the stuff in the media is taken out of context and twisted to make sure more people like them not read the book. I’ve never read a military memoir before and I appreciate and was very engaged with the military portion of the book.
The Tory Government is doing so badly, that the Defence Minister is using Harry as distraction tactic from the real issues affecting the country. Where’s Charles to defend his son?
just at some point you’d think the Tories just would fall over after contorting themselves with such wild hypocrisy – they will take any position if it opposes Harry and Meghan and protects their own status (and thus that of the royal family), even if it is diametrically opposed to their previously stated opinion
I was keeping an eye out to see what the Queen Consort strategy would be to take the conversation off of her re-emerge. I wasn’t expecting this. That they went back to this topic and found another senior officer to attack Harry demonstrates to me how panicked they are for the Queen Consort’s standing as the coronation draws nearer. Continue to lift up the Sussexes in prayer each day for protection and long life. Also keep highlighting the vendetta against them. The institutions are unrelenting – the power they wield over the minds of the people is at risk.
This was my only issue with Spare and the promotional interviews. Harry doesn’t directly link his trauma to his service. He gets pretty specific about his Diana’s death traumatized him and how the military positively changed him. But he doesn’t directly link his agoraphobia and PTSI go his service. I don’t know of that was intentional or of he hasn’t done it yet himself, but I think of he did there would be no room for these be “misinterpretations.”
not this crap again. this was covered to bits during the spare release. the BM is running out of crap and drudging up this bs again. talking points are again 1) he wasn’t boasting, he was being honest for the sake of helping other vets talk and 2) his account of “taking combatants off like chess pieces” is very frank but is controversial bc not everyone agrees with a comment like that. blah blah. shrug.
I do think H should make a swift and firm statement that serves the purpose of condemning and shaming this charlatan:
– express concern that senior military personnel have the unenviable but serious job of making life and death decisions for soldiers sent onto battlefields so they are expected to be scrupulously accurate with the information they use to inform their actions;
– state how dangerous and careless it is that any senior military personnel should utter uninformed nonsense, sourced from bad actors;
– point out that senior military personnel should not allow themselves to be used like puppets, to serve the agendas of vested interests who seek to destroy targeted members of society.
At this point this country is a sad farce. They treat Harry and Meghan as a bigger threat than Russia or the Brexit fiasco and shortages. They are so desperate to get to this couple so they go after that which means the most to Harry. What has happened between Spare coming out and now that they’re reverting back to this false narrative? They’re desperate for Sussex engagement, any response at all. It’s incredibly irresponsible to use government ministers to get involved in personal issues like this. This book is still number 1 so it’s getting read.
I saw a video clip where some of the serving members of the US armed forces were gathered, where they publicly acknowledged and thanked Prince Harry for his public stance on openess to mental health.
That is all that matters.
Two members of my immediate family served as volunteer and army in the US. They did not see battle.
But presently five are active serving members, three are 👩.
I wished Prince Harry’s activism was around earlier to save the other three, two died by suicide. The last was probably dealing with PTSD, he crashed his motorcycle.
All these people served in the US armed forces.
The point is this is a dangerous game having the tory government member publicly attacking the son of the head of state.
There should be a clear demarcation between the two.
Why did the rf replaced the non-profit organization that preps the British army veterans for the Invictus Games??
Another day, another clown show…..
This cretinous government minister is simply endangering Harry’s life. He should be held accountable, although I don’t know how.
This contents of this interview make it easier for Harry to get his security that he seeks while in the UK.
It should be considered in the lawsuit.
So the whole South Park episode fiasco that was hype up with such glee by the British media and Royal reporters went nowhere. And so the British media and established decided to go after Harry spare book and his army career again it’s such a shame that this guy who work with Harry would go along with this untrue defamation statement . There country is going through hell shortage of food heat but let’s attack Harry and Meghan again two people who don’t live in the country and not living off taxpayers dollars . Let’s rehashed nonsensically drama get people riled up about harry instead of focusing on the fact that their government is failing them .
It definitely seems like this is some sort of payback for swatting down those ridiculous rumors about that cartoon and calling them boring. They’re pissed over there and none of it makes sense. Guess Meghan’s not taking the bait so it’s go after Harry again. Let’s hope it gets more people to read his book.
I am thoroughly pissed of with this idiot. Ben Wallace should know better, especially as he served, and served in Northern Ireland. I wonder how he will feel /react if the legacy crimes people who are hounding so many of the troops who served in Northern Ireland come after HIM. CHRIST I REALLY HOPE THEY DO. Yes as you can tell I’m bloody fuming, how dare he comment without actually READING THE BOOK, OR looking at the FACT that Harry DIDN’T count his kills, the software in the apache helicopter does, or is he now going to condem the M. O. D who also published the amount of kills by British troops. SIT DOWN you bloody cockwomble and Button it. As a veteran myself I’m ASHAMED OF YOU, NOT HARRY
@Mary Pester: the Conservatives under Boris passed legislation to prevent (current and former) members of the British armed forces from being charged with “historical” offences related to the Troubles – which very much goes against the grain of truth and reconciliation.
Punk Princess it hasn’t been fully passed yet, another veteran has just been in court but was found “not guilty”, a friend of mine called Dennis, died last year, alone and hundreds of miles from home. He had terminal kidney disease and very serious heart problems, but they still took him to Belfast for trial. There was no proper evidence avaliable this far down the line and not all prosecutions have stopped
Mary – I do not know how political sausage is made in UK or how elections work. But it seems like Defense Sec. Wallace was tripped up on purpose by Nick Ferrari of LBC radio in interview. See my response to #1 above.
I feel like every article that attacks Spare hasn’t actually read the book because the assessments are so off its extremely odd
Ben Wallace condones fox hunting with dogs and killing of animals for sport. He’s also been quoted as approving torture methods and fake executions in battle. So he’s making sh*t about Harry speaking honestly and sympathetically about what it’s like fighting terrorists? SMH…
JADED Ben Wallace is a bloody useless minister, who knows the local elections are next year and is using Harry to try and bolster support. The last one to try this was called mercer and he lost his seat till Johnson gave him a job. They BOTH forget the loyalty between veterans, and they have both forgotten just how many veterans votes they have BOTH now lost!
Thanks Mary Pester — he sounds like a right cockwomble!
I was angry the first time this happened. To add to my anger was the bm contacting the Taliban and then writing in such a way that we’re supposed to feel sorry for the Taliban that was killed. Well, they just doubled down. It’s very clear at this point that the UK does NOT have any use for their Veterans. They are there to throw in the war and once their out, they just don’t matter. Where is the outrage of the citizens of the UK? Why isn’t that vocal?
Silence is not the answer for Veterans dealing with PTSI. They must find someone to trust and TALK. They need to know they are valued. That Defense Secretary should be ashamed of himself and removed from that position. I know that Veteran’s Affairs in the US is underfunded, but our Veterans are sincerely appreciated in the US. Don’t stay silent. TALK.
SAUCY AND SASSY, The UK treat us veterans like sht. There are so many (to many to count) that are now homeless, and the rate of veteran suicides is through the roof. But I have to be honest and tell you it’s not just the veterans that are suffering. Our troops are living in such sub standard accommodation that a lot of them have said they would rather be back in Afghanistan than live like it. Even wives and children are moving out because the accommodation is so bad. THAT’S how little this man and a lot of the civilian population treat veterans and serving troops, that’s until there is a war they want them to fight!
Mary Pester, I’m sorry that this is happening. Why are the Tories not funding the military? This is so wrong and horrifying.
The Tories are not funding the military (or anything else) because they are beholden to their rich donors, and too many of them are still beholden to the Russians (see the fate of Chris Bryant’s private member’s bill sanctioning more Russians that is going to die a death tomorrow because it’s “not the right time”).
We need two things: higher taxes, and in particular we need to tax capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income; and we need a root and branch outing of all of the corruption in this effing government. (We’ll get neither).
If it’s not about who can shoot the most then why do they give out medals?
I thought that Harry was very sensitive in how he covered it in Spare. Still, I wish he hadn’t because it made me worry about his security. I worry about them anyway because there is so much hatred.
Me too @ ELSA ☹️. The combined efforts to completely destroy Harry & Meghan is relentless and frightening. Every angle possible is being used to constantly attack them and anything that’s associated with them. I truly worry for their safety with the irrational hatred that’s being whipped up against them in the UK.
I think the military & veterans topic will continue to be brought up and misrepresented because they know it’s a heartfelt passion of Harry’s and it will get under his skin. I think they will also ramp it up as the games approach. It’s pure evil.
Note they had to go for a politician to speak against him, no actual military personnel.
Truly. Harry and Meg have been quiet for like over a month. They’re in a whole other country. Can we just… not? This is so tiresome and just aimed to hit Harry where it hurts. Meanwhile, thank you for the photo selections above… they’re prob just salty because Harry makes those fatigues look yum.
Haven’t read all the comments above, but Harry very clearly said on Steven Colbert, that he revealed the number to prevent suicides in veterans. He was never bragging.