# Prince Harry dresses as a Nazi - so what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 13, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540 "2005-01-13T11:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/41 "2005-01-13T21:08:13Z")
> [@sinical brit](#): > > Rilchiam - “Harry is regularly portrayed as rude and arrogant.” > > By the tabloids. They will portray people whichever way sells most papers. Even better if there is one who looks like Di and is nice, and a ginger one who is " rude and arrogant." ( no offence meant to our redhead friends ). I think its called juxtaposition. Well, yeah; I said I was taking it with a grain of salt. Thanks, **yojimbo**. **eleanorigby** , good question. I heard an anecdote once about Diana, William and Harry at a restaurant here in LA. The waitron listed the specials, and Harry asked, “Are they ‘special’ just because we’re here?” Diana told him jokingly, “No, and you’ll get a special **smack** if you say something like that again!” Perhaps she would be a stabilizing influence. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/42 "2005-01-13T21:15:52Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I sometimes wonder if Diana were alive, if some of this stuff would occur. Just idle speculation. Nah, he probably _would_ have worn a SH costume then. 😃 And adolescense or no, [being 20 is being a teen?] “dark humor” or no; wearing a Nazi uniform just makes you an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/43 "2005-01-13T23:40:29Z")
It’s quite straightforward. Prince Philip is getting on a bit and simply doesn’t have the energy anymore to always be putting his foot in it and upseting people. _Someone_ had to step up and fill the void. I suspect they had a meeting and Harry got the short straw. But an excellent start by the youngster, if a bit unimaginative. Give him another 20 years and he’ll be pulling finely honed gaffs that’ll outrage a consistant 90% of everyone and 110% of all tabloid editors. ---
**Author:** ![majok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@majok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/majok)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/44 "2005-01-14T00:35:18Z")
definitely it was poor choice of him, not befitting for a third in line to the throne. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/45 "2005-01-14T01:05:03Z")
1. _The Sun_ and its so-called journalists are hypocritical tossers of the first order. Look back to its headlines when the England football team beat Germany 5-1 in 2001 or to any encounter between the two countries for an example of their hate-mongering ignorance-spreading profit-obsessed bile. 2. The partygoer who (I assume) sold the photos is a wretch. 3. Harry was stupid. Someone show him the photo of the Duke of Windsor meeting Hitler in October 1937 and trying to make a Nazi salute. 4. It was a fancy dress party, not a Nazi rally. Think The Great Dictator, Fawlty Towers, Dad’s Army, 'Allo 'Allo, Springtime for Hitler, The Producers. 5. Thank God that Bertie became King (George VI). He was a good man, and his daughter is a good woman. 6. Rule Britannia! 7. Effing journalists. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/46 "2005-01-14T02:12:57Z")
Yet another reason to wish for the Republic of Canada in my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/47 "2005-01-14T02:25:40Z")
> [@sinical brit](#): > > He is a student trying to be different and get laid. I doubt he has to try very hard. I’m guessing his usual courtship ritual goes something like the following: HARRY: Hi. I’m Prince Harry. Want to have a shag? GIRL: All right. I don’t see how the Nazi uniform is a length he needs to go to in order to attract girls. I’m willing to give him the benefit of being stupid and young, though. It probably seemed hysterical to him and his mates before he did it. I just hope somebody chewed his ass about it. Diana must be spinning. ---
**Author:** ![Snakey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@Snakey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snakey)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/48 "2005-01-14T02:32:52Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Or, evidently, after his great-uncle. Or his father (whoever that might be)! ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/49 "2005-01-14T02:48:48Z")
Why do people take things like this so seriously? It’s just a costume. I think it’s actually a little bit funny. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/50 "2005-01-14T03:15:02Z")
I dunno. I remember guys wearing SS insignia on jean jackets when I was in HS (late '70’s). I am not saying these guys were looked up to or “cool” but I do think there is a fascination with Nazi regalia. Also, IMO, Harry probably is immature for 20. I realize that they have enormous pressures on them, but they are also somewhat cocooned and indulged. I doubt that Diana(if living) would have let him get away with it–nothwithstanding the fact that she may not have known, being that their schedules/agendas didn’t jive that day. (what a horrible sentence). ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/51 "2005-01-14T03:53:48Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Pretty like mommy, stupid like mommy. Was Diana considered stupid? I’ve never heard that. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/52 "2005-01-14T04:03:51Z")
I’ve never heard it either. (Of course, I’ve never heard that she was superintelligent, either, but I never heard that she was dumb.) What I did hear was that she was very polite, thoughtful and well-spoken, went out of her way to put others at ease\*, and never did anything that could possibly be taken wrong. A lady, not just a Lady. I’d like to think that if she had lived, Harry would have checked himself before doing a lot of the things he’s been excoriated for, knowing that even if the press didn’t find out, his mother would rip him a new one when **she** found out. \*Check out the photo of her on her wedding day, just before the ceremony, the one where she’s leaning down to the little flower girl. Reportedly, she was saying something along the lines of “Don’t be nervous; just picture them all in their underwear!” ---
**Author:** ![SallyCan\_tDance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@SallyCan\_tDance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyCan_tDance)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/53 "2005-01-14T04:11:56Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Why do people take things like this so seriously? It’s just a costume. I think it’s actually a little bit funny. :rolleyes: I dunno, maybe because large numbers of British guys were killed or injured fighting to protect Britain and _The British Royal Family_ from the enemy, which partly consisted of Nazi Germany? And maybe because Edward VIII was an admirer of Hitler? I’m not laughing, but that could be because my father’s uncles were prisoners-of-war in WWII. This is yet more evidence that the Royal Family is not very bright, and that Harry got his tact and diplomacy genes from Prince Phillip, who is famous for his “interesting” public comments to native peoples of various countries. ---
**Author:** ![SpaceCop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@SpaceCop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpaceCop)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/54 "2005-01-14T04:53:29Z")
My father was a decorated World War II veteran who once dressed up as Adolf Hitler at a parish Halloween party and won a prize for the best costume. I wore the costume to my 7th grade halloween party and also won. So this whole thing seems blown out of proportion to me. My great uncle was never rumored to have made a secret deal with Hitler to rule the British Empire as a Nazi puppet though. Maybe that makes all the difference. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/55 "2005-01-14T05:12:41Z")
> [@SpaceCop](#): > > My father was a decorated World War II veteran who once dressed up as Adolf Hitler at a parish Halloween party and won a prize for the best costume. > My great uncle was never rumored to have made a secret deal with Hitler to rule the British Empire as a Nazi puppet though. Maybe that makes all the difference. Well, there is that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zonyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a183cd/32.png) [@Zonyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zonyx)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/56 "2005-01-14T09:32:43Z")
He just wants to be a real boy Geppetto. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/57 "2005-01-14T10:08:56Z")
Yes, it was probably Not A Great Idea to wear the costume, but the howls of outrage from the press that his apology is insufficient and that he should do more to placate the _fucking stupid frenzied media circus that they themselves created_ is just unbelievable. I’m also finding it rather odd that the BBC (which is not the royal family, obviously, but is often held in similar high regard by the same people) can make [comedy](http://www.arthurbostrom.com/allocast1.jpg) programmes about Nazis that are generally cherished. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/58 "2005-01-14T11:25:55Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Yes, it was probably Not A Great Idea to wear the costume, but the howls of outrage from the press that his apology is insufficient and that he should do more to placate the _fucking stupid frenzied media circus that they themselves created_ is just unbelievable. Very good point. Anyway, [Charles](http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/01/14/harry.charles.reut/index.html) has the matter in hand. > [@](#): > > The Sun, which broke the Nazi gaffe story on Thursday, quoted an unnamed royal source as saying that Prince Charles also told his older son, William, to travel with Harry to Auschwitz. > > “There will be no publicity and they will go with a Jewish charity,” the source was quoted as saying in the Sun. > > “Their father has visited Auschwitz himself and believes Harry and William would both benefit by grasping a greater understanding of the horrors by actually visiting.” > > The paper said William, 22, accepted part of the blame because he was present when Harry picked the Nazi costume in a hire shop before the private party in southwest England. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/59 "2005-01-14T11:34:04Z")
Maybe he shouold go to Auschwitz; sounds like that would be a good, ignorance-fighting idea in any case, but I’m afraid whatever he does now will be criticised by _someone_; there will be those who say “He has the gall to turn up at Auschwitz after that whole _Dressing As A Nazi_ scandal? How insensitive”, while others will say “Too little, too late, and anyway, he’s only doing it because he’s been told to”. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540/60 "2005-01-14T12:32:49Z")
The tabloids are still trying to milk this. A couple of points strike me: 1. All I can say is the discretion of party hosts/guests has gone down hill since my day. This kind of thing has been going on for years and no one ever cared about it before. 2. He’s really an insignificant figure. Once William starts breeding he falls out of the line of sucession pretty quickly. 3. We’ve been here before - Andrew was just as dim (see above for relevence in the long term) 4. He needs to get into Sandhurst FAST! 5. Typical ginger behaviour! 6. He come from a German family anyway. (BTW Diana was quite astonishingly thick - even by Sloane standards. She only passed one CSE, in child care (the irony!). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-dresses-as-a-nazi-so-what/284540.md?page=4)