# What if Prince Harry was captured by the Taliban? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 28, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568 "2008-02-28T23:04:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/1 "2008-02-28T23:04:52Z")
Seeing the [news](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7269743.stm) today got me wondering, what would be the likely outcome if Prince Harry was captured in Afghanistan? My guess is that they would try to use him to demand that Britain withdraw its troops from Afghanistan just as they did with the South Korean hostages. However, Britain would refuse, a huge manhunt would be organized and in the we’d probably end up with the video of Harry’s beheading all over the internet, Daniel Pearl style. This would probably backfire and cause Britain to increase its presence in Afghanistan. Can anyone conceive any other likely scenarios? Does anyone think that there might be some negotiation? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/2 "2008-02-28T23:20:21Z")
> [@](#): > > What if Prince Harry was captured by the Taliban? The next in line succeeds to the Throne. **Or** , they cancel the whole “Monarchy” thing altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/3 "2008-02-28T23:23:11Z")
There are plenty of Royals and he’s not in direct line of succession; Harry is - at a pinch - expendable. Remember that Prince Andrew served in the Falklands War on decoy duty. That’s decoying an enemy missile so it hits the target you’re carrying rather than the ship you’re protecting. That said, I imagine that right now he’s on a flight home. I think that we ought to thank Mr Drudge for breaking the news. After all, if he knew it, I’m sure the Taliban were near knowing. But I wouldn’t want to be him if there were some drunk squaddies nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/4 "2008-02-28T23:39:04Z")
[thread=418874]Link to a previous thread[/thread], when it was thought that maybe Harry would be deployed to Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/5 "2008-02-28T23:50:34Z")
What Quartz said. Isn’t that what spare royal sons are _for_? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/6 "2008-02-29T00:10:33Z")
Have the Taliban ever successfully kidnapped a NATO soldier? I imagine it’s pretty hard to do, even when that person isn’t a royal. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/7 "2008-02-29T03:11:22Z")
Huh. I thought this was going to be another one of those “will-_this_-hypothetical-situation-make-it-okay-to-use-torture-ya-Holier-than-thou-liberals?” thread. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/8 "2008-02-29T03:17:41Z")
[QUOTE=Qwertyasdfg] Seeing the [news](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7269743.stm) today got me wondering, what would be the likely outcome if Prince Harry was captured in Afghanistan? My guess is that they would try to use him to demand that Britain withdraw its troops from Afghanistan just as they did with the South Korean hostages. However, Britain would refuse, a huge manhunt would be organized and in the we’d probably end up with the video of Harry’s beheading all over the internet, Daniel Pearl style. This would probably backfire and cause Britain to increase its presence in Afghanistan. Can anyone conceive any other likely scenarios? Does anyone think that there might be some negotiation? [/QUOTE] It would have a profound impact on William and William would become a real King. Nevermind a lot of the BS about being a figurehead only, he would be the leader of a massive corporate empire. The Taliban would be destroyed utterly. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/9 "2008-02-29T03:29:11Z")
If the Taliban or any other extremist Muslim group captured and executed a member of the British Royal family, you’d have another wave of international outrage like what followed the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks. To avoid this, as soon as the Prince was abducted you’d have Islamic governments and prominent Muslim individuals doing whatever they could to negotiate his safe release. The captors would then be able to claim they had achieved their goals and were releasing the Prince unharmed as a show of mercy. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/10 "2008-02-29T14:45:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \* **mswas** : > It would have a profound impact on William and William would become a real King. Nevermind a lot of the BS about being a figurehead only, he would be the leader of a **massive corporate empire**. The Taliban would be destroyed utterly. What does this mean? Am I missing some whoosh …? Everyone knows Prince Philip is [realy running the country](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/18/nburrell618.xml) and the elected government is just for show :smack: ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/11 "2008-02-29T14:51:38Z")
Fucking hell! If Harry was captured all hell would break loose. “Cry God for Harry, England and St.George” The shit would really hit the fan and no mistake about it…what **mswas** said, in spades ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/12 "2008-02-29T14:56:19Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Fucking hell! If Harry was captured all hell would break loose. “Cry God for Harry, England and St.George” The shit would really hit the fan and no mistake about it…what **mswas** said, in spades [/QUOTE] I hope we’d bomb the shit out of any place offering safe harbour to the main culprits. Where precisely is Drudge based? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/13 "2008-02-29T15:26:11Z")
Furthermore, I doubt very much that even the most fervent anti-royalists would bring themselves to view any such scenario as the capture of a British royal as anything other than an unforgiveable slight against the UK. The overwhelming cry from the British would be “Vengeance, and that right quick” ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/14 "2008-02-29T15:50:11Z")
The reaction would be driven by the media, and there would be the same fake orgy of emotion that there was after Princess Diana died. He’s emergency backup for a mostly irrelevant, purely-symbolic position. No one really cares, but they’d let the media make them think they did. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/15 "2008-02-29T19:59:12Z")
The Daily Express would spend the next ten years trying to find out who’d “really” kidnapped him. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/16 "2008-02-29T20:03:01Z")
He is after all the People’s Prince ™. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/17 "2008-03-01T02:25:33Z")
[QUOTE=MarcusF] What does this mean? Am I missing some whoosh …? Everyone knows Prince Philip is [realy running the country](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/18/nburrell618.xml) and the elected government is just for show :smack: [/QUOTE] I am saying that William could probably make a convincing case to the British people and their representatives that they needed to take an active role in rooting out the Taliban. I think that if he couldn’t make such a case he would be wealthy enough to hire Blackwater to do it, or to form some such loyalist army that would. I am saying that if William chose to excercise his prerogative as Monarch, that he actually could, either through soft power like his Grandmother, or through actual money. Remember the King of England is a celebrity’s celebrity and can influence people greatly if he chooses to. William has the charm and grace to do it, and if he were persuaded to be an active Monarch, he has the ability. The idea that the British Monarchy has no power is a fantasy. They can’t simply dictate terms to the country anymore, but that’s not the same as having no power. I think that William will change the way we view Monarchy in an age where corporate feudalism worldwide is on the rise. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/18 "2008-03-01T07:43:09Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] The reaction would be driven by the media, and there would be the same fake orgy of emotion You think? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/19 "2008-03-01T08:11:55Z")
> [@](#): > > **Bosda** : The next in line succeeds to the Throne. Yep. After the Queen is dead. And she isn’t. And the next in line isn’t William, as you know. He isn’t on the horizon either. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568/20 "2008-03-01T08:24:44Z")
It’s a pity, because IMHO Charles isn’t fit for the job. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-prince-harry-was-captured-by-the-taliban/439568.md?page=2)