HMS Britannia or HMS Pinafore? (Point 2)
At a recent parade of troops returning from Afghanistan, I saw the Duke of Edinburgh dressed in an admiral’s uniform taking the salute from a podium. The uniform had the usual plentiful display of medals and assorted decorations that members of the royal family typically wear on these occasions.
The Duke is 88 this year and long past the retirement age for active service in the Royal Navy. For an octogenarian to dress up in this way is silly. It’s like a scene from Gilbert and Sullivan.
The Duke served with distinction in the Royal Navy in WW2 and is fully entitled to wear the medals he earned during his naval career.
But wouldn’t people feel more respect for a war veteran dressed in a sober suit and wearing medals earned by his own efforts at the sharp-end of military service than for somebody wearing an unearned admiral’s uniform covered in decorations mostly resulting from his being the Queen’s husband?
Per ardua ad astra
Point 2 of the Manifesto rightly says that members of the royal family cause offence by parading around in high-ranking military uniforms with chests full of medals.
Did any members of the royal family achieve the rank of admiral, general or air chief marshal while serving in the forces? I don’t think so. How did they get their medals? They were given most of their medals just for being who they are.
Why do the royals choose to dress up so ostentatiously? Are they trying to impress us with their ‘effortless superiority’? It looks like arrogance and insensitivity.
My late father-in-law was a Lancaster bomber pilot in WW2 and won two DFCs for gallantry and devotion to duty. He couldn’t stomach the sight of members of the royal family in their bemedalled finery at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday, ‘dressed-up like a dog’s dinner’, as he would put it.
The Trumpet-Major manqué OR A Really Useful Prince
Prince Edward, also known as the Earl of Wessex, flunked his training with the Royal Marines and left prematurely to pursue other interests*. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this, as we are not all cut out for a military career.
*Among Edward’s other interests were theatre (he had a spell at the Really Useful Theatre) and TV (he produced the 1987 ‘It’s a Royal Knockout’ programme and ran the loss-making Ardent Productions company for several years).
Edward’s conspicuous failure in the Royal Marines has not prevented him from pursuing his military interests on a part-time basis as Royal Honorary Colonel of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, a TA regiment. I would have thought that the prince’s unsuitability for the military life made him a less than ideal role model for the young soldiers in the Wessex Yeomanry.
In fact, it’s an insult to the professionalism of the Wessex Yeomanry to appoint somebody who couldn’t hack it in the Royal Marines as their Honorary Colonel.
A strange tale from Hardy Country
The geographical area from which the Wessex Yeomanry regiment recruits happens to be home to numerous retired senior army officers who would be much more suitable candidates for the position of Honorary Colonel-in-Chief than the Earl of Wessex. But their lack of royal lineage seems to be something of an obstacle to their being offered the position.
The Queen’s daughter ‘promoted’
It is reported that the Princess Royal is to become a Vice-Admiral of the Fleet.
What exactly has Anne done to merit this 'promotion'? Has she ever served in the Royal Navy?
Royal Navy Royals
What has Anne done? She’s the wife of a Vice-Admiral, isn’t she? Why should she have to salute her husband when she’s royal?
Undeserved uniforms and medals
The Manifesto Point 2 makes it clear that awarding royal family members very senior military ranks which they haven’t earned through hard work, training, talent, and achievement devalues the long-term service and outstanding performance of the men and women in our armed forces who win promotion to senior ranks by their own efforts.
Princess Anne & the Royal Navy
Princess Anne has never served in the Royal Navy. She was ‘appointed’ Chief Commandant of the WRNS in 1974 at the age of 24, and she became Chief Commandant for Women, Royal Navy, in 1993 with the rank of Rear Admiral. She was ‘promoted’ to the rank of Vice-Admiral with effect from 1st December 2009. She has ‘Special Relationships’ with HMS Talent (a submarine) and HMS Albion (an assault ship) - whatever that means.
What on earth does she do?
What does the Chief Commandant for Women do? Why is Anne a Vice-Admiral? How much time does she spend on being the Chief Commandant or on the ‘Special Relationships’? Would women serving in the Royal Navy be any worse off without her involvement? What’s the point of her having anything at all to do with the Royal Navy?
Military impostors
Are royals who strut about in public wearing undeserved military uniforms and medals so thick-skinned that they do not feel the slightest twinge of embarrassment or shame?