Prince Harry has broken an unwritten rule and “inflicted irreversible wounds” with his memoir, an expert has said.
They said that the Duke of Sussex “compromised the safety” of his “comrades” by describing what he saw and did as a gunner in an Apache attack helicopter in Afghanistan in 2012.
In his autobiography Spare, Harry said he killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving in the Army – a claim that led counter-terrorism officers to say he might need extra security.
Royal expert, Maureen Callahan, said her father was a veteran of the Vietnam War and through him, she learnt soldiers never talk about what they saw and did while serving.
But since Harry’s revelations in Spare, the royal commentator fears the safety of soldiers in the region may have been compromised.
Talking on GBN America, Ms Callahan said: “My father was a veteran of the Vietnam War. Anybody who knows or loves a veteran or who has served knows that the one thing they hold the most sacred is what they saw and had to do.
“The true soldier never talks about that. They just don’t. Harry inflicted some irreversible wounds with that memoir and the subsequent interviews he did are terrible.”
In his memoir, Harry recalled the “taking of human lives” as he confessed to not thinking of those he killed as people but as “chess pieces” to be taken off the board while serving on the frontlines as a helicopter co-pilot and gunner.
He added: “It was not something that filled me with satisfaction, but I was not ashamed either.”
After Spare was published, a senior Taliban leader hit out at the Duke. Taliban warlord Anas Haqqani tweeted: “Mr Harry! 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.”
Another Taliban commander, Molavi Agha Gol, also criticised the prince – saying that he “needs a doctor” and that his memoir is a mission of attention seeking.
Speaking from an Iranian border town called Islam Qala, the commander told the MailOnline: “We are still here ruling but he has fled to his grandmother’s palace. He’s a big mouth loser who has been trying to get attention.
“I do not even believe what he said about the Mujaheddin. He is a loser and scared to go to a combat zone. We made history by kicking him and his army out of our homeland and he should be very angry about that.
“Do not believe whatever losers tell you. I see news about him a lot on my Facebook feed and really think he’s gone mad and needs a doctor immediately.”
