Was Harry , third in line to the throne of England a tad insensitive?


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4173453.stm

I think, if you think about it a bit, you may decide that when the "sensitive"genes were handed out, the whole family didn't collect many.
Personally, if that were my son he would get throttled, or worse. Spoilt, insensitive little brat comes to mind.I find it embarrassing to be British.

How could he have thought that was an appropriate costume? Didn't someone see him and go 'um... you might wanna think twice about that' before going out the door? Probably not as he's royalty and you can't tell royalty what to do.

It is frightening to think that a man (really an infant) who would casually dress as a Nazi, is third in line to the throne. At this moment int time, England and the rest of Europe is trying to combat anti-semitism, not add to it. His family has been known as Nazi sympathizers in the past. Hopefully, he just did it as a joke (albeit an unfunny one) and will learn from his mistakes. Doubtfull, but possible.

Oh, I TOTALLY agree about that statement! We write them all the time with 'quotes' from our officers that they never said. Someone (in an article at MSNBC.com) said that the written apology was enough - and my head almost hit the roof. He probably hasn't even read the statement, much less write it!

Aramis - not everyone views the forums in the threaded/tree view. Most of us read it with the posts all listed in the order that they were posted. Therefore, many of us don't pay attention to which post we click 'reply' to.

Oh, what a spoilt, dim-witted brat of a playboy Harry is! It's sad that the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst thinks(?) he's "officer material", especially coupled with the doubts about his 'A' level [school-leaving exam] results. N'doubt they feel oh-so-honoured, not so say *obliged* (prounounced "obligeed" in this context [?]) to have a "royal" there.

I'm coming round to the view that Oliver Cromwell had the right idea about the "royals", whatever one may think of him in other respects.

I think there are probably two groups who object to dressing up as a Nazi are those with personal memories of the war, and those who are anti-monarchist.
Personally I'm not complaining, but I was born after the war. At least until WW2 is totally part of history, any Royal would indeed be a fool to wear it, but the press (as always) make a big issue of it (or at least the part that is anti-monarchist, and the rest feel the need to "keep up with events" by following) .

I've seen news reports that Prince William was with him at this party. Dressed as a lion or leopard or some such. You would think the older brother would have had the brains to say something. Ah perhaps they don't get along, he couldn't be that mean spirited could he? Or as stupid as his brother.

According to one article I read, William was with Harry when he picked out the costume. I don't know if William had said something or if it was the author of the article's opinion, but William should share part of the blame.

One good thing to come out of this unfortunate episode is that awareness of the holocaust has been increased dramatically. According to a couple of news reports I've heard, almost 70% of teenagers in the UK hadn't heard of the holocaust before the Prince Harry episode.
Maybe he should be 'congratulated' for unwittingly bringing such publicity to this vile part of world history!

Quote:

---

He is 20 years of age, and has received the best education possible.

---

I would have to object to this. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to attend Eton, surrounded by insular, egotistic and pompous little rich kids. How pleasant!

Sorry, but I had to have a rant about my opposition to aristocratic elitism.

Back to the subject, I think Harry's insensitive actions highlight how out of touch with reality the royal family is, and how Harry is still an immature brat. If only we could elect the monarchy!

Fortunately, the monarchy is only ceremonial. Still, it's not good publicity for Britain when one of its figureheads starts toting a Nazi uniform.

Wouldn't you just love to go to one of those parties! I wonder how long I would last with a collection of upper class twits patting each other on their superior backs.
I heard somebody say that Harry's stupidity shows he may not be suited for life in the armed forces. I would have thought that he's right on target.
When i first saw the picture I didnt thnk of Holocaust survivors or victims, I thought that of all the British soldiers that died fighting the Nazis.
Terrible or not the Holocaust will eventual slip into the realm of history, regardless of how P.C we are. THe Mongols, Huns, and countless others have performed bloody violent acts, including acts of genocide. I cant recall a toga party ever being called anti-semetic, yet the Romans persecuted the jews. Time heals all wounds?

Eh, you know, I think Harry, despite his publicity and royal upbringing is still just a kid. I mean, notwithstanding his age, but gees, I have to tell you, I've known my fair share of similarly insensitive and/or absolutely rebellious 20 year old boys in middle-class Nebraska. (Heck, I had a friend who dressed as an abortion doctor, complete with a cupie doll in a jar, for a Halloween party when he was 22...) I'm not defending such behavior, I'm just saying it doesn't take a spoiled and out-of-touch upbringing for a child to behave like that. (And 20 is still a child, especially for males. Sorry to say it, but it's true, and I'm not that far past it.)

What I guess I'm getting at is that the he-should-have-known-better argument, while true from our perspectives, may actually not be. Perhaps he's just chomping at the royal bit? Making a bit of trouble for the family simply because he can? Again, doesn't take being a rich kid to do that, but even we Americans have our well-publicized examples. (Do the Bush daughters ring a bell?)

Was his choice of costume ill-advised, insensitive and foolish? Absolutely. But for pete's sake, he's a kid, and a kid in a position I wouldn't trade with him for all the world. Was his choice of costume defensible? Absolutely not. But I also don't think he should be crucified and shunned. Perhaps he is just a spoiled brat, but perhaps he knows it and his choice of costume was an intentional way to garner bad press for his family. Sheesh, kids do that ALL the time. "What IS the best way for me to get real attention? Is it getting good grades? Blending in? Playing nice?" Not usually. The squeeky wheel gets the grease, right?

Ah, anyway, I think he was a stupid, er, donkey? However, I'm not the type of person who pussyfoots around things, and I'm not going to turn this into an anti-semitism discussion because I don't think it's neccessary. And I'm going to remind myself that while being a royal doesn't excuse him from bad behavior, it also doesn't excuse him from fairly typical adolescent behavior. Not being British myself, I don't hold them anywhere near a pedistal, and therefore, I expect them to act as all humans act, taking the good with the bad. And that little stunt, while phenominally foolish, doesn't prove to me he's an evil human, it proves to me he's a human.

There are still plenty of British people to whom the very sight of a swastika and the sound of the name of Hitler bring shivers up the spine, me included. Never never can this be overlooked and excused as "he is just a kid". If anything is to be blamed, apart from him and his pompous,insensitive family, it is the people who gave him his wonderful, privileged education. Our students, being taught here in the international school where I teach, are taught the horrors of WW2 very thoroughly, at age 11. It would never (by the time their learning project is finished)occur to them to mock such a horrific time in our history. These are children from 30 or more nations in the world, by the way. So what gives his royal highness the excuse for such an insult? Nothing.Absolutely nothing, my friends.

Let the young prince wear whatever he chooses to in private or whilst at a private party. For me to comment in any other manner would indicate that he has any impact on my existence.

Roos, I guess you are right. (like we care?) It was only that I was incensed that this so called Role Model to young people was so insensitive.

Having an opinion would obviously have some impact on my existence, however small. . Glad that Ren grasped the concept so easily. (like we care?)

I'm reminded of a Halloween party from my youth. I was working at a German restaurant, owned and operated by, frequented by, and partly staffed by German immigrants to Canada, and their children. I was one of maybe six employees without a European background - we also had quite a few Poles, Hungarians, etc on staff.
The staff had an after hours party, (strictly non official - we had a habit of locking the doors, and raiding the liquor room for all night parties, replacing our ravages with quick trips to the liquor store the next day. Owners of restaurants with young staff take note) and one of the waitresses, (with parents born in Germany, who lived through the war) wore a Nazi officer uniform. Drastic renovations around the bosom, and a very short black leather mini, turned it into quite the spectacle. This was, hands down, the most popular costume at the party. Only a few of us seemed to think there was anything wrong with this, instead it was viewed as 'edgy', 'sexy', 'ironic'. Looking back at it now, I wonder what the newspapers would have made of it, if they had known, and if any of us had been important enough for them to care.
I guess that I'm agreeing with Lothruin - bad taste and shocking behaviour are sometimes exactly what a certain type of young person is striving for. They know enough to know that an action will outrage their elders, (which is what they are after) but not enough to truly understand WHY. Prince Charles is taking exactly the right tack, in my opinion - a trip to Auschwitz is in order. A visit to any veterans' home in Britain wouldn't hurt, either.

I hope readers won't take it amiss if I introduce a note of facetiousness.

When the "awful awfficer" leads his men on manoeuvres - he's never going to posted anywhere dangerous, now is he? - perhaps they'll shout mockingly (and with a strong French stress pattern):

"Cry God, for 'Arry, England and 'ItLER!"


(Apologies to the Bard)