Prince Harry excluded from prestigious book celebrating top Sandhurst recruits
8 January 2024, 15:50
Prince Harry has been excluded from a prestigious new book celebrating Sandhurst's top recruits, in a move that has been dubbed a humiliating 'snub' for the duke.
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The Duke of Sussex failed to make the cut in a list of 200 former recruits who trained at the Royal Military Academy's world-renowned college, which includes 'exceptional individuals', from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to multi-million pound singer James Blunt.
They Also Served, which has been published by the Sandhurst Trust, boasts that "while some climbed to the very top of the military tree, a select few gained recognition beyond".
While Harry has been left out of the pages of the £28 hardback, his brother the Prince of Wales, William, has managed to get a prominent mention with his written foreword.
Outcast Prince Harry joins other former Sandhurst recruits omitted from the 392-page book, such as former Tory MP and notorious fascist Oswald Mosley, who maintained a friendship with former King Edward VIII and his American-born wife, Wallis Simpson.
This comes as Prince Harry sparked outrage following the publication of his explosive memoir, Spare, after critics condemned a remark in which the 39-year-old described the 25 Taliban fighters he killed as "chess pieces" rather than people.
The "exclusive" book has been written by Vaughan Kent-Payne, the Director of the Sandhurst Trust, and marks the 200th Sovereign's Parade in 2023, a ceremony which marks the passing out of cadets into commissioned officers in the British Army, following 44 weeks of intensive training.
According to the MailOnline, Mr Kent-Payne reportedly notes in the book that "not everybody who trained [there] was a good egg", adding that there 'is a smattering of traitors and cads' amongst the ranks.
Prince Harry began his training as an Officer Cadet in May 2005 before being commissioned as an army officer. He joined his regiment the following year.
Former British Army colonel Richard Kemp told The Sun that "he completely understood" the decision to exclude the Duke from the book, after voicing his his fury at the duke for saying that the "army taught him to see the enemy as less than human" in his memoir.
Mr Kemp said: "I completely understand why he has not been included. I probably would have included him on balance, but it is not a disappointment to not see him in there.
"I don't think he did anything particularly notable in his service but he was certainly a significant person to go to Sandhurst. I suspect the recent disharmony between him and the Royal Family has led them to decide against having him in.
"One thing he said in his book was the army taught him to see the enemy as less than human — which is not what we were taught. That has overshadowed a lot of the great things that he has done."
Over his decade-long career, the duke has undertaken two tours in Afghanistan, as a forward air controller from 2007-2008 and an Apache pilot from 2012 to 2013, and rose through the ranks to be promoted to Captain.
The Prince is also the founder of the Invictus Games, a sporting event he started in 2013, to promote and support wounded veterans as they adapt to life post-injury.
