Two-thirds of Britons think Prince Harry damaged national security by revealing that he killed 25 Taliban in Afghanistan, exclusive polling for The Independent has found.
The Duke of Sussex drew criticism in military quarters for sharing his “number” in the recently released memoir Spare.
Harry said it was important for him to detail his army experiences and denied he was boasting but fellow veterans said his remarks were “ill-judged” and he was accused of putting the royal family in danger.
The British public fears the duke may have put the whole country in danger with his remarks, which have already been used by Iran to counter opposition to last week’s hanging of a UK citizen.
Polling by Savanta for The Independent found 63 per cent of people thought Harry had damaged national security with the revelations, while just 23 per cent thought the “number” brought no danger for the UK.
A majority of 58 per cent of the 2,064 British adults polled also said Harry was “unjustified” in revealing the number of Taliban he killed in his six tours of Afghanistan. This share peaked among 55-64-year-olds at 82 per cent.
The duke, who served in the army from 2006 to 2015, said he felt compelled to divulge the information as part of his “healing journey”. “Expressing and detailing my experience is how I chose to deal with it, in the hopes it would help others,” he said.
His case generally found more support with younger age groups but it was only among 25-34-year-olds that a majority (52 per cent) thought he was justified.
Regional divisions emerged in the polling. East of England was by far the most concerned by the impact of Harry’s remarks, with 80 per cent saying he damaged national security compared with a low of 53 per cent in the nearby East Midlands.
England on the whole was more relaxed, with 58 per cent concerned compared with 68 per cent in Wales, 66 per cent in Scotland and 60 per cent in Northern Ireland.
The national security question cut through class divides, with only a few points separating the concerned share among working class Britons (65 per cent) and the middle classes (62 per cent).
Similar shares of men (61 per cent) and women (65 per cent) were concerned but on the converse there was a fairly wide gap with 30 per cent of men and just 20 per cent of women saying the comments were not damaging.
Political colours were the biggest reflector of divisions. Among those who voted Conservative in 2019, 80 per cent thought Harry had damaged national security, compared with 62 per cent of Labour voters.
