Was Queen Elizabeth okay with Prince Harry risking his life in Afghan war? Read to know

Amid the ongoing royal saga, new reports revealed that late British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II wanted both Prince William and Prince Harry to fight alongside the British army in the Afghanistan war. However, the fates of the two British princes were not the same. According to Daily Mail, the ex-Army chief revealed that the Prince of Wales was shielded from taking part in the raging Afghanistan war in 2001 since the palace thought that it would be too risky to send the future heir to the British throne. In the upcoming ITV documentary called “The Real Crown”, former head of the British Army General Sir Mike Jackson revealed what went down behind the closed doors of the British royal family. 

According to Daily Mail, Mike asserted that when the 2001 war broke out the erstwhile queen sat down with General Mike to discuss how the palace should contribute to the raging war. “What goes on in those audiences and who says what to whom remains for the two people involved, and I will break the rule about not divulging what goes on on this one occasion,” Gen Mike stated in the documentary. “She was very clear. She said, ‘My grandsons have taken my shilling, therefore they must do their duty’. And that was that. But it was decided that William was heir to the heir, the risk is too great. But for his younger brother, the risk was acceptable,” he added. The highly anticipated documentary revealed that the Queen had put a lot of thought into it and came to the decision after analysing all the risks the British military was facing in the war. 

“Of course, she has complete clearance to everything. She has had complete access to an exceptional amount of info and insight for longer than anyone else. William was very keen to go,” Sir John Scarlett, the then head of MI6 asserted. “She's very, very discreet, completely reliable and completely on top of the details. I remember thinking at the time, 'Wow, Her Majesty knows more about this than we do," he added. 

William, Harry and links with the British Army 

As per the British news outlet, King Charles III’s oldest son Prince William completed a training course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Following the training which spanned 44 weeks, he was commissioned as an Army officer in the British military in December 2006. The Prince then joined the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals) where he stayed until 2008. He was later commissioned to the Royal Air Force and Navy. Meanwhile, the Duke of Sussex served in the British Army for ten years and rose to the rank of Captain. Harry undertook two operational tours of duty in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2008 and then from 2012 to 2013. 

The upcoming documentary shows that Prince William wanted to join the war, however, he was forbidden to do so, due to his position as the future king. “William was very keen to go. Unequivocally. But it was complex, and some very great minds and experienced people took a view on it,” Mark Cann, director of the British Forces Foundation, asserted in the documentary. “I think it was really tricky. Anybody who's in the military and who hasn't actually been on operation feels a sense of disappointment. And I think especially that was the one (war) at the time, you've got everyone around you at the time who's been involved in it. So there is a sense of disappointment,” he added. According to Daily Mail, the documentary based on the life of the royal family will air on April 20.