Afghan farce shows folly of training prince for a role he could never fulfil

Published on Sunday 2 March 2008 20:45

Prince Harry was never going to regarded as a fully deployable officer (your report, 29 February), which begs the question why he was accepted into the army in the first place. It is difficult to believe that everybody involved lacked the foresight which would have prevented the inevitable farce we have just witnessed. Perhaps they thought that having him sign up for them rather than either of the other services was a feather in their cap.

There is more than one loser here, the biggest being the unknown soldier – the young man or woman who could have taken his place at Sandhurst and gone on to do full duties without an accompanying media circus.

ANDREW KEMP, Mossbank, Rosyth, Fife

People may be a little surprised at the media blackout over Prince Harry's Afghanistan tour of duty by every British newspaper and broadcaster; a conspiracy to withhold the truth from the public. Would never happen in an open democracy, would it? Well no it wouldn't, but clearly we don't live in an open democracy. Laughable really when you consider the number of reports sent by British foreign affairs journalists in some of the most totalitarian regimes, who invariably premise their report by saying they are working under severe reporting restrictions.

What else is the British media establishment withholding from us?

MARK JOHNSTON, Brandywell Road, Abernethy, Tayside

After the nation was subjected to the blanket media coverage of Prince Harry's secret sojourn into Afghanistan, my immediate thoughts went out to the parents and families of the fatalities and casualties of this never-ending war against the Taleban.

If every serving soldier was given the protection Harry enjoyed, their families would not be suffering as they are now. It all seems to have been such a pointless exercise.

KENNETH S HARRIS, High Street, Dalkeith, Midlothian

Those involved have done well to keep the story under wraps for so long. But this should hardly be seen as co-operation or "collaboration", by the media. It is surely a legal requirement. Communicating sensitive operational intelligence to unauthorised recipients in time of war is a serious criminal offence. There is no "public interest" justification for disclosure as it would have been made public in weeks anyway.

JOHN RISELEY, Harcourt Drive, Harrogate, North Yorkshire

The media frenzy surrounding Prince Harry being in Afghanistan is farcical. Will the newspapers and other media be commenting on every young man who actually does the job he is paid to do? Or is it just shocking that one of the Royal Family is doing work in return for state money?

ROBERT STEADMAN, Henry Avenue, Matlock, Derbyshire