Prince Harry has had his fair share of scandals over the years, the most recent one being how he’s struggling to adjust to his new non-royal life. But that one is peanuts compared to the biggest thing he’s had to face in his life, which we, Australia, had a big hand in embarrassingly.
No, not Megxit. I’m talking about the time Prince Harry was on a secret mission in Afghanistan with the army, only for Australia’s media to reveal it well ahead of time and putting his and other military personnel’s lives in danger.
Speaking of Prince Harry scandals, the GOAT team talk about the whole Megxit mess on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
Back in 2007, Prince Harry was training with soldiers from the Canadian Forces and British Army in preparation for a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Beyond that, no one knew anything else or were allowed to report on what he was up to and radio silence was to be maintained for the foreseeable future.
That is until Australia’s media jumped the gun and broke the global news blackout just months later, inadvertently revealing Prince Harry’s secret mission.
In February 2008, Australian magazine New Idea (via news.com.au) broke the news blackout and revealed in an “exclusive” that Prince Harry had spent the past 10 weeks alongside the army in Afghanistan. Unsurprisingly, the news spread like wildfire and soon Prince Harry’s super secret mission was completely out in the open.
Despite Prince Harry’s conduct in Afghanistan being labeled “exemplary” by the British Chief of the General Staff, General Richard Dannatt, the Duke Of Sussex was pulled out of Afghanistan after just 10 weeks into his four-month tour due to concerns over the safety of him and his fellow soldiers.
Needless to say that Dannatt was pretty pissed with Australia as he made the decision to send Prince Harry to Afghanistan with the army with the understanding that there will be no reporting on it whatsoever due to security concerns.
“I am very disappointed that foreign websites have decided to run this story without consulting us.
“This is in stark contrast to the highly responsible attitude that the whole of the UK print and broadcast media, along with a small number of overseas, who have entered into an understanding with us over the coverage of Prince Harry on operations.”
New Idea later issued out a sheepish apology for breaking this global media blackout on Prince Harry’s Afghanistan mission, stating (via Reuters):
“We did not knowingly breach any embargo and were not party to any agreement for a media blackout on the story. However, and more importantly, we do acknowledge that our actions in publishing the story can be reasonably viewed as insensitive and irresponsible.
“We regret this serious lapse of judgment. We sincerely apologize to all our readers, to the servicemen whose lives are at constant risk while serving at home and abroad and to their families and loved ones.”
Good job, Australia! But hey, at least an apology was given.
Between Prince William jeopardising national security while working at the RAF and Prince Harry’s little Afghanistan debacle, we can’t imagine the next generation of royals being allowed near the army since everything they do will inevitably get leaked.
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