AT FIRST, I thought it was just my imagination. Every day, it seemed, Princes William and Harry were on the television, firing guns or flying helicopters. The press releases from the Prince of Wales’s media office, however, confirmed my observations.
Prince William is now in the “second phase” of his time in the military. Initially, he was there to gain experience as a young officer, out of the media spotlight. But, after his period of regimental service, it was announced that the future head of the armed forces was to broaden his focus to the RAF and the Navy — and to do so in a much more public way. The result has been a stream of news stories and photo opportunities.
There is no doubt that this new persona suits the military down to the ground-troops. The steady trickle of tales of both William’s and Harry’s exploits, which makes up the new PR offensive, has been accompanied by a high-profile recruitment campaign. If successful, even the £162,000 for William’s flight training will seem like a small investment.
The future Supreme Governor of the Church of England must be considered a godsend after the collateral damage to the image of the military over Iraq. Just over two weeks ago, the Prince of Wales’s media machine sprung into action again around an open-air “extravaganza” outside St Paul’s Cathedral, attended by the Prince. Hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, the presenter of the TV programme Top Gear, the “efforts of the country’s military heroes”, as the Daily Telegraph put it, “were honoured on the steps . . . by a spectacle of pomp, ceremony and music”.
The event symbolically brought into sharp relief a conflict between William’s future military role, and his role in the Church. Whether from a “just-war” or a “pacifist” perspective, the armed forces are always a regrettable (if necessary) part of life — they are not something to be celebrated or glamorised.
Yet this is what the high-profile involvement of both Princes is doing. Excitement is growing amid reports that William is now set to begin a Miami Vice-style mission fighting the “cocaine war” in the Caribbean. The news comes hot on the heels of his daring RAF exploits — including flying a Chinook helicopter to a stag do on the Isle of Wight, and landing in the garden of his girlfriend, Kate Middleton.
As with all royalty, the justification for their military activities (and indiscretions) has often been the good that they are doing, in their new positions, to help worthy causes. They have, quite rightly, thrown themselves into supporting service personnel who have been injured or killed in the line of duty, and their families. But, of course, they do not have to be involved in the armed forces themselves in order to do so.
The best way to honour those affected by the maiming and killing that accompanies all wars is not to rebrand those who do it. Rather, it is to try to find new ways of making peace, which avoid the need for military involvement in the first place.
Given the unique diplomatic position that Prince William will one day hold, the time, effort, and money spent on his military training would surely be better spent on equipping him with the skills that would work towards making his job as head of the armed forces obsolete. |
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