Paul Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Harry has ruled out visiting Auschwitz as atonement for wearing a Nazi uniform at a party just two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the death camp's liberation. Jewish groups had demanded the Queen's 20-year-old grandson make the symbolic gesture as a way of apologising for wearing a swastika armband and an army shirt with Nazi regalia at a costume party on Saturday. The prince has apologised for his "mistake" but Jewish rights groups and politicians said he should do more. "This was a shameful act displaying insensitivity for the victims, not just for those soldiers of his own country who gave their lives to defeat Nazism but to the victims of the Holocaust ..." said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the U.S.-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre. He added in a statement: "We strongly urge Prince Harry to accompany the British delegation on January 27th to the Auschwitz death camp to commemorate 60 years since liberation. There he will see the results of the hated symbol he so foolishly and brazenly chose to wear." A royal official said he understood the calls for the prince to go to Auschwitz but there were no plans for him to attend any of the ceremonies. "It would be a distraction and a detraction from the importance of the occasion because it would become a different story in media terms," the official told Reuters. "He recognises he made a very bad mistake and he apologises for that. There are no plans for him to say anything more." The Nazis murdered six million Jews and millions of others including Poles, homosexuals, Soviet prisoners and Gypsies. Millions more were imprisoned or forced to work as slaves. Photographs of the younger son of the late Princess Diana and heir to the throne Prince Charles in Nazi attire appeared in the Sun, in Israeli papers and on websites around the world. Harry, third in line to the throne, said in a statement he was sorry if he had caused any offence. "It was a poor choice of costume and I apologise," he said. "INTOLERABLE" Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "Prince Harry has made it clear he is very sorry about it and I think the rest of it is best to leave to Buckingham Palace." Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was less sympathetic, saying the use of Nazi symbols was intolerable. "I think anybody who tries to pass it off as bad taste must be made aware that this can encourage others to think that perhaps that period was not as bad as we teach the young generation in the free world," he told reporters. Conservative leader Michael Howard, who is Jewish, told BBC Radio: "It would be appropriate if we heard from him in person about how contrite he is." Royal commentator Robert Lacey said he was just "a messed up kid" and should be left alone. "He clearly got it wrong. It is a very fine line and Harry stepped over it. But he has apologised and we have to move on," he told Reuters. Former armed forces minister Doug Henderson was quoted as saying the picture showed Harry was "not suitable" for the army. Harry, who is due to train at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst this year, is known as a royal "wild child" and has admitted smoking cannabis and under-age drinking. Harry was left alone by the media for several years after the death of his mother in a Paris car crash in 1997, but has come in for criticism in the last few months. Last October, he scuffled with photographers outside a London nightclub. A bit......over the top isnt it? It was a damned costume party! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsi Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 What a totally idiotic thing to do, i mean really, he's third in line for the throne. Seriously, how can he ever be given any sort of power when he keeps acting like a turd all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 A bit......over the top isnt it? It was a damned costume party! Yeh but there is a difference between going as, lets say, a sailor, cop etc and a Nazi. Ive never seen anyone in a Nazi uniform at a fancy dress. The thing is though, if any BNP people did this, they would be lynched, hated, the lot. A Royal does it, and n-one will be bothered in 2 weeks time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Yeh but there is a difference between going as, lets say, a sailor, cop etc and a Nazi. Ive never seen anyone in a Nazi uniform at a fancy dress. The thing is though, if any BNP people did this, they would be lynched, hated, the lot. A Royal does it, and n-one will be bothered in 2 weeks time. And yet we won't hear the end of it for those two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 13, 2005 Author Share Posted January 13, 2005 Yeh but there is a difference between going as' date=' lets say, a sailor, cop etc and a Nazi. Ive never seen anyone in a Nazi uniform at a fancy dress.[/quote'] I have, never bothered me! Its the same as going as a barbarian warrior or something! After all the Huns ect attempted a form of genocide, as did the Roman soldiers, and the crusaders! The thing is though' date=' if any BNP people did this, they would be lynched, hated, the lot.[/quote'] What, more than normal!? ;) A Royal does it' date=' and n-one will be bothered in 2 weeks time.[/quote'] Yeah, hence the outrage now! But if I did it no one would say anything! I think the biggest problem here was the timing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taki Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Oh come on if it was anyone else no one would give a s**t, like none of us have ever warn them, it was a costume party whatever he wore was gonna get publicity next time maybe he should go as a fairy then people could slag him off for that, I would like to see the headlines after that, Auschwitz happened a long time ago and its not like he was shoving it in peoples faces if the media have a problem with it then dont bloody take his picture, if religious groups have a problem tough everyone has their own beliefs. Yeah he may be 3rd heir to the throne of England but so what hes a normal guy at the end of the day (as normal as ginger people can be) why should he have to act any differently. Is every member of the royal family for the rest of time gonna have to tiptoe around jews badly hurt pride and pain, half the people who are complaining werent even there. Poor guy does the same things most of us do and gets bashed for it, I seriously wouldnt want to be him, I mean come on he's never gonna be King unless something bad happens to Will unlikely. So basically hes just gonna be another guy sponging off the country wow he might as well be a doley chav, with all the unwanted press coverage he gets i bet he wishes he was. xXx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number 6 Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 don't really give a monkey's but any old excuse to bring out madame guillotine to put those leeches out of their misery is fine by me... chop chop... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyndorf Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 And Shock Horror! He was smoking AND drinking too!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crippler Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Who cares? The Royal Family are a bunch of morons anyway. It never fails to both amuse and irk me how much publicity the Windsors get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taki Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 And Shock Horror! He was smoking AND drinking too!!!! He is allowed to you know he is over 18 now, there are no laws in Britain that he is breaking by doing so. xXx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRM Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Would the press if he had dressed as a Roman, Viking or a Saxon all of which were Murderous mercnaries? Would they have played hell if he had dressed up as a Arab? Would they have said he was playing up to the Americans if he dressed as Cowboy? It's a big fuss about nothing, i'm sure the royals do much worse in there own home, it just happens that they have been able to get a photo of him at a private "fancy dress" party. Yes he should know better because of the role he has in society. But he never asked to be born into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyndorf Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 He is allowed to you know he is over 18 now, there are no laws in Britain that he is breaking by doing so. xXx ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I see it this way- if you're in a position where your every move is going to be scrutinised and picked apart by the vultures in the press, surely you'd think "how would this look in the papers if it got out?". I'm not saying he's an angel, I'm not saying he's the living incarnation of Satan, I'm saying that Harry is stupid to think that he could do something like this and get away with having no fuss. I'm more shocked at Crippler's attitude towards the royal family, how will he be able to show his face at Ibrox again? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Crow Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Oh come on if it was anyone else no one would give a s**t' date=' like none of us have ever warn them[/quote'] I can honestly say I've never once worn a nazi uniform or even a swastika symbol on any part of my body, ever. Not that I condemn it. I couldn't care less. But since my family is very anti-Nazi after my great-grandad was in the war and all that, I'd probably get slaughtered for wearing anything like it. As for Harry, who cares. Oh, and no one should worry about Harry ever becoming king. As soon as William has a kid, Harry's slot is gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anime Otaku Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 i really don't care, the sooner we get an independent scottish republic the better. BTW did you know that if scotland became independent we would still have the elizibeth the first (no other scottish queen has been called elizabeth) as queen?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crippler Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I'm more shocked at Crippler's attitude towards the royal family, how will he be able to show his face at Ibrox again? :) LOL, well I'm not your usual Rangers fan Craig. Hopefully nobody from my local Rangers club is reading this or I'll be excommunicated. :lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christof Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 who cares in all fairness, Harry isn't even a windsor he is a Hewitt and the whole world can see it. He is like prince Andrew, he can get away with doing jack all his life and being a joke because he sure as hell ain't ever going to be king. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Hes an arse wearing a nazi logo thinking hes big Someone should **** him one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 I'm shocked to see some people defending his actions. He is a public person, and he's making it worse on himself with his constant idiotic actions. He made the concious decision to wear the uniform, most likely before even starting to drink. Over-publicised he may be, and frankly I couldn't give a damn whether he's alive or dead, but showing complete disrespect to the country he may become king of is completely unacceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LG Hooker Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Given who he is and how he's constantly in the public eye he was foolish to do something like that. It's been mentioned already - Harry should think before he acts especially when press will be all over him if he does something controversial. It doesn't surprise me that he would do it - but realistically he needs to get his head on straight in order for anyone to take him seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walshy Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 In one way he is a representitive of this country, he is part of the "face" of the country and thus shouldn't have done something like this... But in another (more truthful) way, he is an unelected sponger who takes from the people and gives nothing back, who cares what he or any other of the prats do? Maybe if the press weren't so obsessed with the Windors we could finnally get rid of them and use the money for more usful things, plus Buckingham Palace hotel/Casino would make so much money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 The crazy thing to me is the fact that there is a West-End show playing just now to rave reviews called The Producers, based on the Mel Brooks movie of the same name. The big thing about it is it's about a show called "Springtime For Hitler", a show that's supposed to fail. In it there are Nazi emblems everywhere, and scantily clad girls in custom Nazi uniforms, yet no-one bats an eyelid, in fact it's getting rave reviews from the same newspapers that are condemning Harry, in fact they are urging us to go and see it. It smacks of double standards to me. Now don't get me wrong, I have no love for the Royals at all, but it seems Harry has been singled out because of who he is. Do you think if you or I had worn it we would be splashed over the papers, regardless of the timing? Rant over!! :evil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pabster Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Idiotic. He is a major face of the Royal Family, in the public eye 24/7 and as Walshy said representitives of our country and he pulls a stunt like this. It is shameful, how to actually decide and wear it without thinking of the backlash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSM Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 The sheer ignorance of some people on this board really makes my blood boil sometimes...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 The sheer ignorance of some people on this board really makes my blood boil sometimes...... Could you elaborate please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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