Prince Harry's Nazi gaffe draws fury, calls for public apology

AFP ^ | Thu Jan 13, 7:03 PM ET

[jb6]

LONDON (AFP) - Britain's Prince Harry sparked fury after being photographed in a Nazi military outfit, drawing calls at home and abroad for a public apology from the young royal with a track record of embarrassing public gaffes.

AFP Photo

The photograph, captured on the cover of the best-selling daily tabloid The Sun and picked up by media around the world, was published just a fortnight before the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

Harry appears in the shot slouched in the khaki uniform of Rommel's Afrika Korps, complete with red swastika armband, as well as a drink and cigarette in hand.

The 20-year-old was snapped last weekend at a "colonials and natives" fancy dress party also attended by Harry's brother Prince William, 22, who opted for a less controversial self-tailored "lion and leopard outfit", The Sun said.

Reactions poured in from Jewish groups and politicians in Europe and Israel, while Clarence House, the office of Harry's father Prince Charles, insisted that an initial written apology made by the younger prince was sufficient.

"I am sorry if I cause any offence or embarrassment to anyone," said Harry in the statement released late Wednesday.

"It was a poor choice of costume and I apologise."

The terse apology failed to stem a wave of condemnation.

"With Holocaust Memorial Day coming up very shortly, a written apology is not enough," said Dicky Arbiter, a former Buckingham Palace spokesman.

"If he now wants to be considered an adult, he has got to behave like an adult," he said, "and he has got to apologise in person, through radio and television."

Michael Howard, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, added to calls for a public apology. "I think it might be appropriate for him to tell us himself just how contrite he now is," Howard, who is Jewish and had family members perish at Auschwitz, told BBC radio.

The US-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre, one of the world's leading Jewish human rights organisations, called Harry's behaviour "a shameful act" and offensive to both Holocaust victims and soldiers who died fighting Hitler's armies.

Its founder Rabbi Marvin Hier said Harry ought to go to Auschwitz with his uncle Prince Edward, head of the British delegation, for the 60th anniversary commemorations.

The Jewish Chronicle, Britain's leading Jewish newspaper, attacked Harry's action as "mind-boggling".

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said it could not merely be written off as a mere show of poor judgment.

And the European Union (news - web sites)'s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said it was "not an appropriate thing to do".

But some, including Sarah Ferguson, former wife to Harry's uncle Prince Andrew, and the Lord Chancellor, Lord Charles Falconer, defended Harry, saying he had already apologised and deserved a break.

The photograph, two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Hitler's most notorious death camp in Poland in which a million Jews perished, prompted questions about Harry's plans to attend the elite Sandhurst military academy, which he is due to enter in May to train as a British Army officer.

"I don't think this young man is suitable for Sandhurst," said Doug Henderson, a former armed forces minister. "If it was anyone else, the application wouldn't be considered. It should be withdrawn immediately."

The Ministry of Defence, however, said the furore would not affect his place at Sandhurst -- even though he will be subject to military discipline once he arrives.

Blair himself stayed out of the controversy, with his official spokesman saying that while "an error was made" by Harry, any further action should be down to the royal family.

Unlike his studious older brother, Harry has the image of a fun-loving playboy, despite an attempt to reinvent himself as a humanitarian by spending time with young AIDS (news - web sites) victims in southern Africa.

He was exposed in the press for underage drinking and marijuana smoking, while last year he brawled with a photographer outside a London nightclub. One of his teachers at Eton also alleged she had come under pressure to help him pass his exams -- a claim rejected by royal spokesmen as "unfair".

But commentators have also claimed Harry has been unfairly treated by the press, especially with its unrelenting coverage of the death in 1997 of his mother, the late Princess Diana.

[garyhope]

"apologies mean nothing - they are just words to be uttered to appease the unwashed and unthinking masses"

I wish you were right about this, that only "action" has true meaning, but much of the world now thinks that words are as good as reality, i.e. the entire "Democratic" party, it's minions and sychophants, the MSM, Hollow-wood, the "educational" system and most of Europe, etc.

[onedoug]

BUMP!

[cambodia]

The swastika was used by many ancient cultures in Eurasia.

Is also a very old Bhuddist symbol of peace that was (and still is)used primarily in China, Japan, India, etc.

Medals? Finnish Cross of Freedom.

[Timocrat]

Pop quiz, where did the swastika come from? And before Germany what country used it on it's medals

Came from the mythology of the Hindu and India.

[blackbart.223]

"Why do you doubt that?"

It's simple. He got caught.

[jpf]

Right you are! As for medals, the British empire used the symbol for many WW I medals (India was part of the empire then, hence the connection).

[cambodia]

A couple other interesting tidbits. In one of the most popular Chinese series shown here on Cambodian television, the "honorable" king has a swastika permanently tatooed on his forehead.

In addition, when I bought a guitar last year in Taiwan, the inside of the guitar case was decorated with swastikas (I did get a new case).

[Timocrat]

As for medals, the British empire used the symbol for many WW I medals (India was part of the empire then, hence the connection).

The Boy Scouts also incorporated it into one of their insignia.

[PLMerite]

Many years ago on Halloween my friend and I walked into the club of the base in England where we were stationed in real WWII German uniforms (Luftwaffe and SS).

We didn't stay long.

[mutejesseJ]

Idiotic thinking!

He is 20 years old, not a pre-teen.
Nazi symbol - attractive?
Not even my 8 yo is unaware of it's meaning.

It's like showing up wearing a terrorist pilot suit of one of the planes that hit on 911. Or dressing up as a dead princess diana - still with seat belt on.

Get responsible and aware, people!

Damn, it's a COLD world!

[section9]

Harry's a little inbred twit, anyway. I mean, did you look at the awful homemade brownshirt getup? Now, if he wanted to dress up like a Kraut, for God's sake, he could have sent his batman down to Twickenham Studios and rented a Panzertruppen uniform. Coolness, and no Armband!

Harry "Inbred Asstart" Windsor, Duke of Herpes, shows up at a party honoring the Simon Wiesenthal foundation in a Waffen-SS uniform in the mistaken belief that he was being invited to a luncheon gathering of members of Germany's 12th SS-Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend.

The whole double breasted deal, plus he could have raided the props department for an Iron Cross, 1st Class, a Wound Badge, a Panzer Assault Badge, and of course, if he really wanted to impress some girl at a party, the Ritterkreuz with the Oak Leaves and the Swords.

But nooooooooo! Inside Prince Harry is a guest on the Jerry Springer show just waiting to get out.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Mount Athos]

It's a costume party.

I'd give him license to dress up how he likes.
A muslim terrorist, a KKK in a white sheet, or even a lawyer.
People dress up in humorous, absurd, or controversial ways at a costume party. It doesn't entail advocating anything in particular.
How anyone can pretend it does is beyond me.
It's a costume party!
Dear humorless people of England, get a bloody life.

[beaversmom]

"I am sorry if I cause any offence or embarrassment to anyone

First of all, when someone puts if in an apology it's not an apology. Secondly, maybe der fuhrer (that was a good catch by another poster on the homophone) over this will cause discussion about the period especially with the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz coming up--sounds like some of the Brits (and I'm sure Americans too) need a little education in this department.

[A. Pole]

There was a poll just a few weeks ago showing that a majority (fairly large I think) of 15-35yr olds in UK had never heard of Auschwitz.

The correct name is Oswiecim, not Auschwitz. After Germans invaded and occupied Poland, they annexed the Oswiecim region and renamed it Auschwitz.

They made there a camp mostly for the ethnic Poles. Next they made the other camp mostly for the Jews located a few kilometers away in Brzezinka (renamed by them Birkenau). It added to the confusion in the West. It is in Brzezinka where the Jews were being exterminated.

So how many of you have heard about Brzezinka? 1%?

[katieanna]

Did you all hear the royal historian on Bill O'Reilly last night? He said that Harry is a "very strange guy" with a temperament that is similar to that of the polo player...what's his name...Hewitt. The historian went on to say things about Harry that were not favorable at all. The transcript would be worth the read.

[Rebelbase]

Much ado about nothing.

[hershey]

If they took away his royal allowance, title, free housing, and other assorted perks, he'd grow up.

[aculeus]

The Ministry of Defence, however, said the furore would not affect his place at Sandhurst

Horrors of homophones ping.

As they say in the marina, nice ketch!

[libstripper]

Charles and Di show off their breeding--nitwits make nitwits.

Given the history of the Hanoverians (the German princelings who became the English royal family in the 18th century) this was a VERY bad move. Harry's great grand uncle, Edward VIII, who was forced to abdicate due to his adulterous relationship with Wallace Warfield Simpson, was a great admirer of Hitler and a notorious anti-Semite. After he abdicated, the rest of the Windsors did their level best to keep Edward and his whore as hidden as possible.