On the prince and the battle of Grays Inn Road
by Jura Watchmaker, 28 February 2008
I may not like what he is, but I certainly like what he does. For Cornet Harry Windsor (or Wales) that is putting his “sorry arse” on the line in Afghanistan. Well done that man!
Mr Windsor was pictured on the news this evening struggling with a heavy machine gun. As someone who has fired nothing bigger than a .22 calibre carbine it’s not for me to mock the young man, at least on this subject. Away from the gun young Harry appeared fully in command while acting as a tactical air controller, describing a network of trenches and tunnels behind Taliban lines. One can only hope that the inhabitants of those dusty ditches received a nasty surprise as a result of the prince’s information.
Now contrast the on-screen behaviour of this junior army officer with that of Channel 4 news anchor Jon Snow, who this evening bravely battled with a newspaper editor and an arsey Tory MP. Snow’s petulant reporting of Windsor in Afghanistan has understandably led to a robust reaction on the part of some viewers. One respondent – an armed forces captain – accused Snow of “treason”, and the newsreader reported this himself with a distinct air of smug self-satisfaction.
Update 29/2-08
A decision has been made to withdraw young Harry Windsor from Afghanistan, and I guess that Jon Snow will be looking even more smug and self-satisfied on Channel 4 News this evening. To be honest I’m not sure if I can bear to watch it. Listening to his fellow celebrity newsreader John Humphrys on the radio this morning was quite enough bullshit for one day.
What a result. A hooray henry with some redeeming qualities signs up to do something useful with his life. And now the poor lad is to be flown back to Blighty where he will twiddle his thumbs during the day, and spend his evenings getting rat-arsed on the public purse.
Yes, the Ministry of Defence has milked this story for all the positive PR it can extract from it. But can one blame the government and army for this? Spin aside, the fact is that an inexperienced but seemingly capable young soldier did his job and battled with an enemy of humanity.
I guess the chatterati will now go back to whingeing about how the youth of Britain are a useless shower of feckless and irresponsible ingrates.
Thursday 28 February 2008 at 21:15
JM, I never got the chance to fire a 50 Cal (the machine gun Harry was using) during my military career, but I understand that the gun does have a tendency to jam.
Jon Snow’s performance on C4 news really pissed me off, and he looked like he was throwing his toys out of the pram. He kept claiming that the UK press’ decision not to report the Prince’s presence in Afghanistan was totalitarianism at work. The small matter of operational security - and the big question of why the media feels it has the right to know exactly what a junior British Army officer is doing and where - seemed to escape him completely.
Harry came off well from the report, making it clear he was glad to see the back of the press pack (and who can blame him). He also got away with saying ’shit’ twice on pre-watershed TV. Whatever you think about the royals, he comes across as a good soldier.
Thursday 28 February 2008 at 23:14
Well, I’m watching Question Time and the “if the press hid this from us, what else are they hiding?” line came out. It’s probably the fifth time I’ve heard that on the TV since this piece of news broke.
Seriously, how bloody thick do you have to be to have those words dribble out of your mouth?
Fuck you thickies and fuck you Taliban. I’m for Harry (just this once)and St George!
Friday 29 February 2008 at 11:35
I can just imagine the British press in 1941 demanding the right to know exactly where Mountbatten’s destroyer was, or (four years later) where Princess Elizabeth was stationed after she enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service. Or maybe they didn’t, because they realised that (1) this info would only aid the enemy, and (2) it wasn’t that important anyway.
Journalists. An irresponsible, selfish pack of cnuts. I shit them.
Friday 29 February 2008 at 11:53
I’m a journalist, sandmonkey, and all but a few of my meeja colleagues have behaved responsibly in this affair. The ones who haven’t are a handful of studio warriors who like for nothing more than to bask in an air of affected moral superiority and smug self-satisfaction.
Friday 29 February 2008 at 12:10
Looks out window … is that Snow?
Friday 29 February 2008 at 14:20
From the BBC’s editors blog:
“Our job normally is to make these things public, not keep them from you. But this was never just about Prince Harry’s safety, it was also about the security of the soldiers serving with him. No editor wants to be responsible for increasing the risk they already face from the Taleban. Nor do I think our audiences would have thanked us for doing so.”
Friday 29 February 2008 at 18:46
JM, I didn’t mean to insult you personally, so my apologies. But as you say, most of your profession hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory.
Friday 29 February 2008 at 20:39
Sandbasher - you misunderstand. I wrote that only a few journalists have behaved irresponsibly in this affair. I’m referring to the likes of Jon Snow and John Humphrys. Most have done the right thing by the soldiers, and I think it’s worth acknowledging this.
Friday 29 February 2008 at 22:33
…did his job and battled with an enemy of humanity ..
God spare us from this …… he fired off a 50 at a shepherd and his goats whilst being guarded up close by Gurkha’s and at a distance by a ring of SAS.
If he wanted to be of value he could get a job, I’m sure he has the contacts.
Friday 29 February 2008 at 23:19
We should all defer to Bibamejico’s goat-raping expertise. I am certain his personal military experience exceeds that of the average Gurkha.
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 12:18
JM, I accept your point. I’ve been a bit quick-tempered.
As for Bibamjico, perhaps you can back up your quip about Harry shooting at a goatherd and his flock, and that HRH had more protection than any other soldier gets. After all, soldiers serve in groups known as sections, platoons, companies etc and in those formations everyone watches each other’s back. That’s how things work on operations.
Furthermore, by working as a JFAC Harry was himself protecting British soldiers, by calling in air support when they needed. He wasn’t just being a fucking tourist.
I think I have to spell all this out, because I think that Bibamejico knows as much about soldiering and warfare as Jade Goody knows about quantum physics.
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 12:41
Cor blimey guv! That Jade Goody, I wouldn’t mind collapsing her wave function.
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 13:17
Rather you than me.
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 15:20
Excellent stuff by Norm (wish he would get angry more often).
http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2008/03/a-song-for-satu.html
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 20:01
John Snow kicked up a fuss the other year about ‘Poppy Fascism’ didn’t he? He claimed, when questioned on his refusal to wear one (its de-rigeur at BBC News), that he would acually wear a poppy in his private time but not in the newsroom on air since it was conformist etc etc.
I saw him a short while after on telly at the Lord Mayors’ Show (*oof*, the radical) - always held the day of the service of rememberance, and he wasn’t wearing one then either, so basically he just couldn’t be arsed but needed a more suitable excuse to save face at dinner parties.
Channel 4 were supposed to be debating it tonight on their poundshop version of right to reply tonight.
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 20:07
I’m not surprised Norm reacted so to that Groan leader: an editorial which truly lives up to its archetype.
Never mind müesli, olive oil and loaves of wholemeal bread; whoever wrote that sentence deserves deserves repeated dunking in a vat of organic guacamole until they are very, very sorry indeed.
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 20:29
organic guacamole
Mushy peas up here - he would appreciate it, so ‘authentic’ darling.
Excellent stuff Norm.
Sunday 2 March 2008 at 0:46
That Prick Snow (ooo err missis — not that sort).
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ilkAroZXS_891hT5Sr0kt-0JuVrA
Sunday 2 March 2008 at 1:25
C4 News should report on the deployment of all young 2nd lieutenants to Iraq/Afghanistan/Germany/wherever–it’s a valuable public service.
Sunday 2 March 2008 at 2:47
‘His talk of “Terry Taliban” running for cover grabs attention, but also makes him enemies.’
And of course that would be terrible since there are no enemies in Afghanistan:
http://www.gallowaygazette.co.uk/latest-scottish-news/Galloway-hits-at-media-about.3829820.jp