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Prince Harry in Afghanistan

Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Look, the brother didn't have to go to the Show, and could have very easily stayed in uniform and still ducked combat duty. Stayed in barracks in London (the Blues and Royals are a Household Cavalry regiment), enjoyed the royal-playboy perks, rolled out the uniform for parades and the Queen's Birthday. But, say what you will about the Windsors, they still believe that being in the royal family is a duty, and soldiers are expected to go on "active service". I understand the Queen was one of those pushing to let him go to the Sandbox.

Shame that they won't let him stay out, seeing it's what he wants to do. Maybe the next war, when the bad guys aren't prone to chopping off heads so much.
 
phrogdriver

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
His brother is going to be aboard ship as a "sub-lieutenant," according to one report I saw. No offense to the Navy, but that isn't exactly in the thick of things.
 
Pugs

Pugs

Back from the range
None
phrogdriver said:
His brother is going to be aboard ship as a "sub-lieutenant," according to one report I saw. No offense to the Navy, but that isn't exactly in the thick of things.
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I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sort of agreement to spread the royals among the branches.
 
phrogdriver

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
Pugs said:
I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sort of agreement to spread the royals among the branches.
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More like each Royal goes between the branches. They get something of a mega-CORTRAMID program, so that they appreciate all the forces they will someday lead. William was commissioned in the army, but will switch to the RN for deployment.
 
raptor10

raptor10

Philosoraptor
Contributor
phrogdriver said:
More like each Royal goes between the branches. They get something of a mega-CORTRAMID program, so that they appreciate all the forces they will someday lead. William was commissioned in the army, but will switch to the RN for deployment.
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What % get CORTRAPRINCE? :D
 
Flash

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Pugs said:
I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sort of agreement to spread the royals among the branches.
Click to expand...

phrogdriver said:
More like each Royal goes between the branches. They get something of a mega-CORTRAMID program, so that they appreciate all the forces they will someday lead. William was commissioned in the army, but will switch to the RN for deployment.
Click to expand...

The Prince of Wales usually does a stint in each service, except the Royal Marines, to get the 'experience' of each just like Phrogdriver mentioned. The other sons, or the 'spares', usually choose to do their own thing and many have chosen a career in the service. Prince Andrew did 20 years in the Navy and got out as a CDR, but Prince Edward resigned his commision in the Royal Marines before completing training and has worked in theater and television since.

Another seperate obligation that the Royals have towards the services is as honorary rank of various regiments, units or services in the UK and the Commonwealth. They are basically patrons of various units, and often wear the uniform of that unit when performing official functions for the unit or the country the unit is in. Many Canadian, Australian, etc. Regiments have a Royal who as their Colonel-in-Chief. For example, Prince Philip is the Colonel-in-Chief for the Royal Canadian Regiment, Marshal of the Air Force of New Zealand and Captain-General of the Royal Marines, among numerous other honors. This appears to be a pretty complete list of Prince Philip's ranks and honors from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_titles_and_honours_of_Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh

Here is a pic of the Queen and Prince Philip, in the uniform as the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Regiment, at the rededication of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.

EIIR-DofE-Vimy.jpg


P.S. My interest was sparked in all of this by my in-laws, who have served King, Queen and Canada.
 
R

Random8145

Registered User
Hmm...so the British, their royalty view it as a duty to at least serve, whereas the French, they don't even send their own people necessarily, they use a legion of foreigners :D
 
phrogdriver

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
Don't knock the Foreign Legion concept. They have a pretty good reputation, at least historically. Besides, there's a certain value in having a group of troops the people at home regard as expendable, and who themselves embrace the concept.

France doesn't mind fighting, it just picks opponents differently than we would like...generally Third World sh!tholes without any capacity to fight back!
 
S

SkywardET

Contrarian
Prince Harry will get over it, I'm sure. There's good reason to not have him in the field now. We aren't fighting Afghanistan, we're fighting an idea that's heavily rooted in the Pakistan-Afghan border, and it is not in one's best interest to give the enemy something to aim for ideologically or symbolically.

phrogdriver said:
France doesn't mind fighting, it just picks opponents differently than we would like...generally Third World sh!tholes without any capacity to fight back!
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Well in all fairness... nevermind.
 
R

Random8145

Registered User
Flash said:
Drudge was the one who made it widely known though, the other two were not noticed widely by the rest of the world's press.
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Matt Drudge is Matt Drudge, you love him when he breaks something your way, but hate him when he breaks it "their" way; I would have preferred he kept this secret, but that is his style. He gets his news from other sources and links to their sites.

Don't knock the Foreign Legion concept. They have a pretty good reputation, at least historically. Besides, there's a certain value in having a group of troops the people at home regard as expendable, and who themselves embrace the concept.

France doesn't mind fighting, it just picks opponents differently than we would like...generally Third World sh!tholes without any capacity to fight back!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I understand the Foreign Legion are bad-a$$es, that's not going to stop me from knocking on the French in good fun:) I am sure the French joke around about us Americans as barbaric, gun-loving cowboys as well.
 
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