Your Royal Highness,
You are third in line to the throne. You can be a right royal twit when acting the playboy. However you are a soldier, standing shoulder to shoulder with other soldiers of the United Kingdom’s army fighting terrorism and insurgency in Afghanistan.
In today’s news we learn from an interview that, while on your second tour of duty in Afghanistan, you have taken lives in the war against terrorism. As a commander of the army's most sophisticated attack helicopter, you said that you had fired on the Taliban during operations to support ground troops and rescue injured Afghan and NATO personnel.
You are quoted as saying:
"If there're people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we'll take them out of the game, I suppose," he said. "Take a life to save a life… the squadron's been out here. Everyone's fired a certain amount."
I know, you Highness, that you have had a bad press following the publication of photos of you in the buff having fun in Las Vegas, but you are a soldier, and with the job of soldiering comes tension, anxiety, discipline and comradeship- and there’s nothing wrong with letting your hair down once in a while.
However the fact that you have admitted that you have killed people, albeit for a cause most right-minded people would think worthy, is one that will place you in danger. Your remarks will probably be seized upon by insurgents to stir anti-British sentiment, and may well put an even higher price on your head. It could also lead to terrorists in the UK re-doubling their efforts to plant bombs and kill innocent civilians.
But I say this to you, Sir; you are a brave young man and are doing a hard job. You could be at home, opening hospitals and shaking hands at charity events. Instead you are in the front-line of our fight to make the world a safer place for everyone. That is truly noble and underlines your status as a true Royal and rightful heir to the throne. I am sure you have no blood-lust or desire to kill for the sake of killing. But you do your duty, as do other soldiers, be they in the air, on the ground or on the seas. Fanaticism and terrorism represent the largest threat to the stability of the planet we face today, notwithstanding global warming and other concerns. It must be resisted and stamped out. You are doing your duty, even if it means you have to take the life of another human being. Even if it means, god forbid, that it will cost you your own.
Your Royal Highness, Prince Harry, I salute you.
