Henry the 5th at Agincourt He Ain't

Major media in the U.S. and the U.K. have been sniffing each other’s arm pits about the ethics of sitting on the story that Prince Hal was on duty with British forces in Afghanistan.

While so distracted about the morality of not telling the world the prince was there waiting to be kidnaped by the Taliban, newsies have missed the bigger story: That the prince’s withdrawal appeared on its face to be a great, staged propaganda coup for the British government, army and royal family.

What did the world see? We saw the prince as a second lieutenant (A) commanding a tank, (B) firing a heavy machine gun from a bunker, ( C) being jolly with the troops, (D) eating bully beef from a mess cup, (E) talking about how he would rather stay with his troops but. . ., (F) turning in his battle gear, (G) boarding a big transport and (H) arriving back in dear old England to be met by his grandpa while his father, the Prince of Wales, yachts in the Caribbean.

So what’s wrong with all that?

Well, if you’re not a trained tank commander, you don’t command a tank, and just sitting in one with battle gear on doesn’t make you qualified to order a tank hither and yon. If you’re an officer, you don’t hunker into a bunker or anywhere else except under extreme duress to fire a heavy machine gun. That’s work for experts too.

As it happens the prince’s military speciality so far is battlefield communications, not a bad thing, but nothing much heroic about it.

So all the TV coverage–allowed once the prince was back rattling around his home castle–to my eye seemed set up, to garner good press. And good press it was. Excellent press, though it had little to do with reality. It showed the prince as a brave soul, it showed Americans that Brits, even the most noble, are doing their part in Afghanistan, which for several hundred years has thrown the English out on their duffs. And for the British it made their army and their government look good. Nothing to complain about.

As for sitting on the story of the prince’s presence where he might get bumped off or beheaded, no one has ever said the British press can’t lick spittle with the best of them, especially for the best of them (by rank). As for the American press, shame on those who knew and kept quiet and yea for whoever leaked the story to the net. And yippee for the British Army press officers: Now there are warriors who know how to do their job.