Prince Harry has “betrayed the fighting ethos” of the British Army and is “pathetic” for disclosing that he killed 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, senior officers told The National.
The British royal has raised the terrorism threat against himself and his family by boasting about the deaths in his autobiography, Spare, they said.
He has also given a false portrayal of the British military training by dehumanising the enemy in referring to them as “chess pieces”, the officers said.
This came as a leading Taliban figure, who was part of a negotiating team that dealt with the US before the fall of Kabul in 2021, taunted the prince with “defeat” and said his actions were “war crimes”.
“Bragging about how many enemy soldiers you can have killed is simply not what British soldiers do,” a senior officer told The National.
“I, like every British soldier serving or veteran, am hugely disappointed that Prince Harry has betrayed the fighting ethos of the British Army.”
It is understood that UK counter-terrorist officers will now examine the security risk the disclosures bring, with the Home Office likely to review its decision to withdraw Prince Harry’s close protection when in Britain.
“He has rekindled the threat against him,” said Col Richard Kemp, who commanded British forces in Afghanistan in 2003. “Maybe their memories had faded but this will certainly resurrect the desire of some people to take revenge against him.”
A former commanding officer of the Coldstream Guards said that it was a pity that Prince Harry “was not a little more circumspect” in sharing his war experiences.
“His unique position demands that he considers the consequences of what he writes more thoughtfully than others,” he told The National. “What he says and does is more closely scrutinised than are the words and actions of a soldier.”
Former police superintendent Bill Duff, who also served in the British Army, told The National that Prince Harry had “made himself a target”, adding that it was a “stupid, stupid” statement to make.
He said that the disclosure was “quite pathetic”.
Taliban backlash
Prince Harry's comparison of insurgents with chess pieces was condemned by senior Taliban leader and negotiator Anas Haqqani on Twitter.
“The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return,” he wrote.
“Among the killers of Afghans, not many have your decency to reveal their conscience and confess to their war crimes.
“The truth is what you’ve said: Our innocent people were chess pieces to your soldiers, military and political leaders.”
retired colonel, Parachute Regiment
There had been concerns for the Duke of Sussex’s security after his two operational tours of Afghanistan in 2007 and 2012, the latter when he flew an Apache attack helicopter.
In Spare he graphically described how the gunship’s nose camera recorded missions, which included the Taliban killings.
He regarded the insurgents as “chess pieces removed from the board” and said the army trained him to think it was not possible to kill someone “if you see them as a person”.
The gunship footage provided him “with exactness how many enemy combatants I had killed … so my number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me”.
Retired colonel Simon Barry, who commanded a Parachute Regiment battalion, also condemned the revelations.
“I would expect an officer who is supposed to be above the more base instincts of people should be a little bit more reserved and not talk about the killings as if he was on a grouse shoot.”
He added that the claims would assist the Taliban, who were “now playing as victims of royal murderers, which is not really helpful”, which “allows deflection from their true activities and atrocities”.
“Bragging about confirmed kills has never existed in the British Army,” he said.
Mr Duff said he had known a lot of British special forces soldiers who had been in Iraq and Afghanistan, but “I haven't heard a single one of them boasting about the numbers of people that they've killed”.
Col Kemp described the detailed account as “somewhat distasteful” adding that “officers, in particular, are supposed to be setting an example and that doesn’t amount to seeking glory in killing people”.
He also suggested that it was incorrect for Prince Harry to state that the British Army trained soldiers to see the enemy “as less than human” or to “view them as just being chess pieces to be knocked over”.
“This simply isn't true and if that was true it would encourage actions that contravene the laws of armed conflict,” he said.
“Our actual training is the opposite to what he suggests. In addition, if people are killed they have to be treated respectfully and given a proper burial.”
The officers suggested part of the motivation behind the disclosure may be to ensure that Prince Harry has his royal protection officers restored.
Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex through the years - in pictures
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Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards in New York City. Getty -
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan attend a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles in April. Getty -
The royal couple speak onstage at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala in New York in December 2022. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan watch as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is placed into the hearse following the state funeral service at Westminster Abbey in central London in September 2022. AP -
Prince Harry and Meghan pay their respects at the Palace of Westminster. Getty -
Prince Harry, Meghan and Kate, Princess of Wales, attend a service for the reception of Queen Elizabeth's coffin at Westminster Hall. AFP -
The Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan meet members of the public outside Windsor Castle. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan leave after a service of thanksgiving for the queen. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York in September 2021. AP -
Prince Harry and Meghan on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world edition, in September 2021. Reuters -
Prince Harry and Meghan are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Reuters -
Prince Harry and Meghan shared this image on social media in February 2021 to announce they were expecting their second child. AFP -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit Canada House, London, in January 2020. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit Auwal Mosque on Heritage Day during their royal tour of South Africa in September 2019. Getty -
Prince Harry, Meghan and their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor in South Africa in September 2019. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan meet Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z at the European Premiere of Disney's The Lion King at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, in July 2019. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan pose for a photo with the New York Yankees before their baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium in June 2019. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan pose with their newborn son Archie in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle in May 2019. Getty -
Meghan, joined by her mother Ms Ragland, shows her new son to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in May 2019. AP -
Prince Harry and Meghan officially open Number 7, a Feeding Birkenhead citizen’s supermarket and community cafe in Merseyside in January 2019. Getty -
Prince William, the Princess of Wales, Meghan and Prince Harry attend a Christmas Day church service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate in December 2018. Getty -
Prince William, Prince Harry, Meghan and the Duchess of Cambridge attend a service marking the centenary of the First World War armistice at Westminster Abbey in November 2018. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit Redwoods Tree Walk in October 2018 in Rotorua, New Zealand. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit an exhibition of Tongan handicrafts at the Fa'onelua Convention Centre in October 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit the University of the South Pacific in October 2018 in Suva, Fiji. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan address the public during a Community Event at Victoria Park in October 2018 in Dubbo, Australia. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan meet a koala during a visit to Taronga Zoo in October 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan arrive at the University of Chichester's Engineering and Digital Technology Park during an official visit to West Sussex in October 2018. Getty -
The queen, Meghan, Prince Harry, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge watch the RAF 100th anniversary fly-past from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan on their wedding day in May 2018. Getty -
Prince Harry places a wedding ring on his new wife's finger. Getty -
Meghan and Prince Harry head to their evening wedding reception at Frogmore House. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan walk through the corridors of the Palace of Holyroodhouse on their way to a reception for young people at the Palace in February 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Getty -
Prince Harry and his then-fiancee Meghan visit Nottingham for their first official public engagement together in December 2017. Getty
