Prince Harry to join Household Cavalry.

[Blackleaf]

Harry could see action with Cavalry in Iraq or Afghanistan
By Times Online and agencies

Prince Harry (second right) is addressed by Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Michael Walker, on parade at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst last year (John D McHugh/AFP/Getty Images)



Prince Harry could serve in Iraq or Afghanistan as part of his duties with the Household Cavalry, the Ministry of Defence said today.

Buckingham Palace announced this morning that the Prince will join the regiment after he completes his training at the elite Sandhurst military academy in April.

The Ministry of Defence said that it was possible that Harry, who will join the armoured reconnaissance unit of the Blues and Royals, could serve in conflict zones with his squadron.

"It’s fair to say that if his squadron goes to Iraq, he will probably go with it,' an MoD spokesman said. The Cavalry are expected to be deployed to Iraq in the future. The Prince, 21, who is third in line to the throne, could see action on the frontline if defence chiefs and royal aides allow it.

There are two units within the Household Cavalry - the armoured division, with which Harry will train, and the mounted regiment which performs ceremonial duties.

The Household Cavalry have already served in Iraq, where several Blues and Royals troopers lost their lives. The armoured reconnaissance unit acted as the "eyes and ears" of the force commander using Scimitar vehicles.

On being commissioned as an officer at Sandhurst, the Prince will become a Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry. He will then face a period of specialist training with the aim of becoming a Troop Leader in the Royal Armoured Corps. In this role, he would lead a team of around 12 soldiers carrying out reconnaissance work.

One of the squadrons of the Blues and Royals is currently training for possible deployment in Afghanistan, but it had not yet been decided whether it would be sent into operations.

The Cavalry is the Army’s most senior and oldest regiment - made up of both the Blues and Royals and the Life Guards. The Cavalry is also tasked with protecting the Queen on ceremonial occasions, but the Prince will be serving in the Armoured Division, not in the Mounted Regiment.

James Hewitt, who had an affair with Harry’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales, spent 17 years with the Household Cavalry and served during the first Gulf War. But he was in the Life Guards, not the Blues and Royals.

Prince Harry said last year he wanted a frontline role in the army "There is no way I am going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country," he said in a string of interviews published to mark his 21st birthday last September.

Harry had chosen the Blues and Royals because had been impressed by its actions in conflict zones, the Palace said.

Prince William, who has just started his first term at Sandhurst, has also outlined his intention to serve on the frontline. But military experts have said the princes' senior positions in the Royal Family may mean the risk is too great and that it would depend on whether royal aides would allow them to go.

The Household Cavalry has been at the forefront of Britain’s military operations, including the Falklands war in 1982, the 1990 Gulf war and, more recently, in Bosnia and Kosovo.

The former husband of Harry’s stepmother, the Duchess of Cornwall, served with the Blues and Royals. Andrew Parker Bowles became silver stick in waiting to the Queen and commander of the Cavalry.

thetimesonline.com

 

[Colpy]

If I remember properly, Andrew had some trouble during the Falklands War. He was a pilot, and Mummy didn't want him anywhere near flying bullets (like Moms everywhere). She had quite a row with him, he threatened to resign his commission etc., finally Philip intervened and off he went to war.

Had a couple of close calls, as I remember.

Males of the royal family should be expected to serve in the military in the same capacity as anyone else.

It is the one concrete thing they give back to society.

 

[Jay]

Re: RE: Prince Harry to join Household Cavalry.

Males of the royal family should be expected to serve in the military in the same capacity as anyone else.

It is the one concrete thing they give back to society.

It's so true, Colpy.

There leadership in this arena is greatly appreciated by all.

 

[zoofer]

Harry seems to be the feistiest of the two. The kefuffles he had got into. The Nazi dress party caper. The service will do wonders for him.

 

[Curiosity]

I luv Harry!

I thought he was going to follow in his Uncle Andrew's steps and become a pilot?

Perhaps he isn't allowed...but Andrew was 2nd in line when he trained.....

He is feisty and human and while I think Will is just a fine young man .... and both of them would make their mother proud as they do their father...... I still like that "bit of the brogue" in Harry....

He's already done his fair share of trouble hahaha...

 

[Blackleaf]

I think the last British monarch to lead an army was George IV, about 200 years ago.

 

[Blackleaf]

The Times January 26, 2006


Prince Harry is expected to serve in a battle zone
By Michael Evans and Andrew Pierce

He will probably be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan after choosing a frontline regiment


PRINCE HARRY will be only the second member of the Royal Family for more than 50 years to be posted to a warzone if, as expected, he is sent abroad to fight for his country after he passes out from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in April.

It was announced yesterday that the Prince, who is third in line to the throne, will join the Household Cavalry in a regiment that counts Waterloo among its battle honours. That means he will almost certainly have tours of duty in Afghanistan or Iraq.

As a commissioned second lieutenant he will become a troop commander with The Blues and Royals, one of two regiments — the other being The Life Guards — that make up the Household Cavalry. One of the his tasks will be to guard his grandmother, the Queen.

The Blues and Royals, known as The Blues, have a distinctive blue uniform with silver cuirass and helmet and scarlet plume. The regiment dates back to 1661 and its motto is “Let us be judged by our deeds”.

Waterloo was one of its most famous victories. Also, in the Iraq campaign of 2003, Trooper Chris Finney, of The Blues and Royals, won a rare George Cross for saving his comrades under attack, in error, by American bombers. Less welcome headlines in recent times have included allegations of troopers from the Household Cavalry taking cocaine, having group sex on video and giving lager to their horses.

Prince Harry is no stranger to unfortunate headlines — notably after he wore an Afrika Korps shirt with a swastika armband to a party.

Harry has already said he would want to be sent with his men on operations. “There’s no way I’m going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country,” he said in an interview to mark his 21st birthday.

The only other member of the Royal Family to serve in a warzone since the Second World War was his uncle, the Duke of York, who flew Sea King helicopters in the Falklands war.

The Prince of Wales, who was pleased by his younger son’s choice of regiment, has acknowledged that Harry will almost certainly be flown to one of the world’s troublespots. A Clarence House official said: “What happens if and when he goes there will be decided at the time by the Ministry of Defence. We have not had those conversations yet.”

Three members of the Household Cavalry have been killed in Iraq since the military campaign began there in March 2003.

They were Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, Lance Corporal Karl Shearer and Lieutenant Alexander Tweedie, all of The Blues and Royals.

Prince Harry’s decision to join the Household Cavalry leaves the way clear for his elder brother, Prince William, to join the Welsh Guards, who recently returned from a six-month tour of southern Iraq. “He will decide nearer the time,” Clarence House said.

Harry decided which regiment to join when he met Colonel Paddy Tabor, commanding officer of the Household Cavalry, at Sandhurst last Thursday. He will be able to keep up his polo-playing with the regiment.

Clarence House said: “The Prince was attracted by the regiment’s outstanding operational record in recent decades, most notably during the Falklands conflict and the Gulf War, in Bosnia and Kosovo, in Iraq and Northern Ireland.”

One of Harry’s future military duties, although not initially, will be to guard the Queen when it is his turn to serve as an officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, the ceremonial wing of the Household Cavalry. His first role, however, will be to serve in A Squadron or C Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment.

These two squadrons, with a mix of soldiers from The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals, have an armoured reconnaissance role, driving into the front line in Scimitar armoured vehicles.

'LET US BE JUDGED BY OUR DEEDS'


*The Household Cavalry is a “union” of The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals

*It consists of the Household Cavalry Regiment, an armoured reconnaissance unit at Windsor and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, at Hyde Park

*D Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) supported 16 Air Assault Brigade during the initial battles in the Iraq conflict

*HCR deployed two squadrons to Iraq in 2004

*D Squadron is training for a posting to Afghanistan later this year


thetimesonline.co.uk

 

[floss]

I don't libe that far from Sandhurst and my best friends dad has rank within the barracks. Anyway I visited her one day and saw him casually getting some coffee and he is so posh but lovely!!!!