Prince Harry's comments 'created a sense of danger' around Duke of Sussex's personal safety

Prince Harry's comments 'created a sense of danger' around Duke of Sussex's personal safety

WATCH: The Royal Record talks Harry's security risks

GB News
James Saunders

By James Saunders


Published: 25/07/2024

- 13:52

Updated: 25/07/2024

- 15:05

Harry's remarks would make British soldiers or American soldiers 'more of a target', Cameron Walker said

Prince Harry has been blasted for creating a "sense of danger" and putting his security at risk by "bragging about his number of kills" in Afghanistan.

In his controversial memoir, "Spare", the exiled Duke of Sussex - or his ghost writer - had described killing 25 Taliban soldiers as "chess pieces taken off the board".


While this had earned him condemnation from military figures at the time, it has been claimed Harry could have put himself in severe danger.

Speaking on The Royal Record, GB News' Royal Correspondent Cameron Walker and GBNews.com's Royal Editor Svar Nanan-Sen spoke of the sheer risk his comments had provoked - not least from Taliban fighters, who "wanted his head on a stick".

Prince Harry in Helmond Province

Harry had been on the front lines in Afghanistan

PA

Spare cover/Cameron and Svar on The Royal Record

Cameron said the comment was "a really controversial thing to put in his memoir"

GB News/Amazon

Providing a retrospective on Harry's military and working career, Cameron said: "There are good bits and bad bits.

"He served two tours of Afghanistan, he's supporting wounded veterans with the Invictus Games, he's patron of 'Scotty's Little Soldiers', a charity here in the UK which supports children who've lost a parent through military service.

"But then... In his memoir, 'Spare', he talks about the killing of 25 Taliban fighters when he was serving those tours of Afghanistan, and he describes them as chess pieces on a board.

"And that didn't sit right with some in the military community, because not only did some accuse him of bragging about the number of kills he had - something which you don't do in the military community because each kill is a life and it's not something to celebrate - but also it creates this sense of danger."

LATEST FROM THE ROYAL RECORD:

Harry in a briefing

The prince's remarks "didn't sit right with some in the military community"

PA

Cameron explained that said danger wasn't limited to the just prince's personal safety, with the threat of "Islamic extremists or Taliban fighters who basically want his head on a stick" in mind.

The royal correspondent added that his remarks would make British soldiers or American soldiers "more of a target, because an ex-British soldier has now bragged about killing 25 Taliban fighters".

Cameron said the comment was "a really controversial thing to put in his memoir", to which Svar replied: "I think it did damage his relationship with the military community in some aspects

He listed the full quote here as: "They were chess pieces removed from the board - 'bad' taken away before they could kill 'goods'", adding that "it was widely condemned for dehumanising the enemy and comparing them to chess pieces... and for bragging around kill counts".

Copies of Spare

Harry - or a ghost writer - likened the 25 fighters to "chess pieces"

PA

Alongside the British military response, Prince Harry was indeed targeted - verbally - by the Taliban for his remarks.

Senior official Anas Haqqani said: "The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return.

"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. Still, you were defeated in that 'game' of white and black 'square'."

Prince Harry found himself on the receiving end of "war crime" allegations by the Taliban

PA

While Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesperson for Afghanistan's Taliban government, also issued a reply, and claimed his country would "never forget such acts".

Karimi said: "The recent confession by British Prince Harry, who brutally killed 25 of our countrymen during his mission in Afghanistan, shows that such crimes are not limited to Harry but to all those occupying country forces who were in Afghanistan.

"It is unfortunate that the Western countries consider themselves to be the defender and supporters of human rights, but in practical that's their real manners.

"Afghanistan as a Muslim nation will never forget such acts and will always defend its land."

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