King Charles paid a heartfelt tribute in honor of Armed Forces Day late on Saturday, sending his “warmest good wishes” and touching on his “deep pride.” The moving message included a carousel of images showing various royals meeting members of the Armed Forces, or on duty. However, Prince Harry – who served two tours of Afghanistan – was not included.
- In a new message, King Charles has thanked military personnel for their “immense and dedicated contribution”
- However, omitting Prince Harry from the images was not unnoticed by commenters online, who reacted with tough critiques
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King Charles shared a heartfelt tribute for Armed Forces Day on Saturday, but his message sparked a surprising backlash.
Writing on the Royal Family’s Instagram account, “The Queen and I join many around the United Kingdom in celebrating Armed Forces Day, recognising the immense and dedicated contribution of our military both at home and overseas.”
“Today provides a particularly valuable opportunity to acknowledge publicly the selfless service and sacrifice made each day by our Armed Forces personnel to keep this nation safe.”
“Having trained, and served, in both the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, and having had such close affiliations over the course of the last 47 years as Colonel or Colonel-in-Chief of multiple regiments within the British Army, I know only too well of the deep pride our service personnel take in their duty, so superbly shown during our recent Coronation.”
He concluded by saying, “As your Commander-in-Chief, I send my warmest good wishes to you all, your families, and the entire Armed Forces community on this special day.”
However, most comments didn’t focus on the positive message and rather the failure to include Harry in the selection of photos.
While the pictures included Prince William, Queen Camilla, Duchess Sophie and more, no photo of Harry was added.
The Duke of Sussex served in the Army for ten years, undertaking two tours of Afghanistan. The father of two rose to the rank of Captain at the peak of his military career which began in 2004.
One fan wrote, “What about Harry? He served two tours in Afghanistan and actually saw combat. He’s done so much for veterans and bringing veterans’ mental health struggles to light.”
Another added, “What about a picture of your son who actually served in the British Army and was in the Queens Guard sworn to protect the Queen Elizabeth. William has never served.”
In the past, Harry has spoken openly on how his time in the military impacted him.
In a 2013 article from The Guardian, right after serving, he is quoted as saying, "If there's people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we'll take them out of the game, I suppose."
"Take a life to save a life … the squadron's been out here. Everyone's fired a certain amount."
In a series of interviews during his time based at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, he hinted at the difficulty of reconciling the different roles in his life.
The prince, known as Captain Wales in the army, explained his "three mes". "One in the army, one socially in my own private time, and then one with the family and stuff like that. So there is a switch and I flick it when necessary."
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