LONDON: Sixty-three percent of Britons believe that Prince Harry put the UK in danger with his revelation that he killed 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, according to a poll conducted by Savanta for The Independent.
The admission is contained in his recently released memoir “Spare,” and has been criticized by military veterans.
Of the 2,064 British adults polled, 58 percent said Prince Harry was “unjustified” in revealing the number of Taliban fighters he had killed over the course of his military service. The figure peaked at 82 percent for those aged 55-64.
Just 23 percent thought the remarks brought no danger, although he generally received more support from younger cohorts, with 52 percent of 25-34-year-olds thinking he was justified.
Those in England were only slightly less concerned (58 percent) over the ramifications compared to Northern Ireland (60 percent), Scotland (66 percent) and Wales (68 percent).
Political colors evidenced a wider divide, with 80 percent of those who voted Conservative in the 2019 election believing that Prince Harry’s comments had damaged national security, compared to 62 percent of those who voted Labour.
The prince, who conducted six tours of duty in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2015, said he felt compelled to speak as part of his “healing journey,” adding that “expressing and detailing my experience is how I chose to deal with it, in the hopes it would help others.”