How Prince Harry and William’s army careers highlight a STAGGERING difference between them
Prince Harry and Prince William joined the Army in their 20s with two very different career paths in mind, a royal expert said.
“As heir to the throne, William was never likely to serve in the front line.
“His desire to enter the forces was far more about being able to look servicemen in the eye.”
Mr Larcombe revealed William told him during an interview in 2005 it was important for him to “understand the military and to be able to look soldiers in the eye with at least a tiny bit of knowledge of what they have gone through.”
On the other hand, the now Duke of Sussex felt during his 20s he was a “solder first and a royal second”, with the desire of pursuing a military career overcoming the need of finding a suitable role in the Royal Family, Mr Larcome said.
The royal author added the life of a military official would grant Harry more “normalcy” than being a working royal ever could - something he had been craving especially following the sudden death of his mother, Princess Diana.
Mr Larcombe wrote: “Harry may have accepted he was a royal, but as far as he was concerned, his military career had nothing whatsoever to do with his accident of birth.
“Being a prince and being an officer in the British Army were, in Harry’s mind, two totally separate entities.
“This was one of the main reasons a military career was so appealing to Harry.
“As an officer, he could be normal.
“His grandmother may have been the head of the Armed Forces, but this didn’t make a jot of difference in his mind.
“He was a soldier first, and a royal second.”
While in the British Army, Harry “committed himself 100 percent” to his military training and was sent to Afghanistan in 2008 to take part in the war.
Harry confessed in 2017 he had been so disillusioned with being part of the Royal Family that at some point he simply “wanted out” of it.
The army, he revealed two years ago, was “the best escape” he had ever had until he had to abandon his military career, finding himself at a crossroads where he could no longer juggle between royal duties and the military life.
