A Right Royal Knees Up

So, Prince Harry (the short one) has decided that he's going to go over to Iraq and fight for his grandmother and country. The press have been screaming their way through the pages about this subject. Then Tony Blair (Not Yet, Gordon) decides to pull at least 5000 troops from the United Kingdom States of Iraqiland by May. Coincidence? Probably not, but it's fun to speculate!

Let's face it, Harry is the black sheep of the Royal Family at the moment. Edward seems to have quietened down a lot recently - it's probably his wife thats doing that - and so for the last few years Harry has been the one courageously volunteering to slander the Royal Family's reputation even more in the Brittish Press. Whether it's getting rather tipsy with a couple of very attractive women or dressing up as aNazi, Harry has always steered the press well clear of the only other thing they're interested in - his mother.

But now, enough's enough. Time to go and grow up, to be a man, to kill a few innocent Iraqi civillans. That's the spirit, Harry - show them what the Brittish are made of. And why should he be worried? After all, the last royal to be killed was Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in the very early 16th Century, and even then, if Bill Shakespeare is to be believed, he wasn't a particularly nice man, murdering his young nephews and giving hunchbacks a bad name.

What I want to know is how long he plans to be over there for. Will he be one of the 5000 troops called back in May? You can picture it now: "Oh, look, a rifle, spiffing, I'll just shoot a few ruffians..." "Sorry, your Highness, but the Prime Minister has said that it's time to put the toys away and come home because it's past your drinking time."
But seriously, will he be away in Iraq during August? Because, of course, we have coming up the tenth anniverary of Diana's death, need we be reminded. Is this a ploy to stop him from ballsing the whole thing up? Probably not, but like I said, it's fun to speculate.

On a final note, the last royal to go into combat was Andrew in the Falklands War, another era of battle for us that, in all fairness, didn't really come off that well until he was involved. Could Harry inject some posh charisma and optimism into the formula? Time, as ever, will tell...