Helicopter pilot… “I am not ashamed”
Taliban protest once morest war crimes trial
The royal side “a revelation that only a B-class celebrity can do”
After the release of the contents of Prince Harry’s autobiography, ‘Spare’, before publication, the followingmath is strong in the UK.
The autobiography details not only his personal life, such as his first sex and drug use, but also anecdotes between his mother, the late Diana Bean, and his father, King Charles. The title of the book, ‘spare’ (plus), refers to the second son of the British royal family. The autobiography was scheduled to be officially published on the 10th (local time), but as some Spanish bookstores secretly started selling it on the 6th, British and European media scrambled to introduce the contents.
In the autobiography of more than 400 pages, the biggest controversy is the part where Prince Harry, who participated in the war in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter pilot in 2008, mentioned that he “killed 25 people.” “It’s not a record I’m proud of, but I’m not ashamed of it,” said Prince Harry. “I didn’t think of those 25 people as people. It was like taking a piece off a chessboard.” He also put it as “the bad people are eliminated before the good people are killed.”
In response, a spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defense said, “We will not comment on details of the operation related to security.” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also said only, “I am very grateful to our military” when asked regarding it. Former Colonel Richard Camp, who served as the British Army’s deputy commander in Afghanistan, said in an interview with the BBC, “I think Prince Harry made a mistake.” .
The Taliban government, which took over Afghanistan, protested that Prince Harry should be tried for war crimes. Taliban police spokesman Khaled Jadran said: “These crimes will one day be brought to international courts. A proudly confessed criminal like Prince Harry should stand trial in front of the international community.”
Controversy over Prince Harry’s personal history is also growing. Prince Harry recalled in his autobiography that he snorted cocaine for the first time at the age of 17 and did it a few more times followingwards, “definitely it felt different”. He also revealed that he had his first sexual relationship with an older woman in a field at the same age. He also visited a psychic because he wanted to somehow connect with his mother, and together with his older brother, Prince William, begged King Charles not to marry Queen Camilla.
The British royal family has not made an official statement. Jonathan Dimbleby, a royal aide who wrote the autobiography of King Charles in 1994, told the BBC on the 7th, “(Prince Harry’s autobiography) is an exposure worthy of a ‘B-level celebrity’.” ” he said.
Cairo = Correspondent Seonghwi Kang yolo@donga.com