Prince Harry was denied the ability to salute his grandmother Monday as Britain held a state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, the prince’s grandmother.
According to protocol, only royal family members in uniform were allowed to salute the queen.
Prince Harry has served two tours in Afghanistan as a forward air controller and British Army Air Corps pilot, according to the New York Post.
However, he was not allowed to wear a uniform at most of the ceremonies for his grandmother’s funeral because he and his wife, Meghan Markle, walked away from the royal family and the duties of being a working royal to live in California.
Royals blasted for banning Prince Harry from salute, uniform at Queen’s funeral https://t.co/3PDoUrkltl pic.twitter.com/nUwg5JndyD
— New York Post (@nypost) September 19, 2022
That led to the spectacle Monday of Prince Harry wearing a suit and holding his hands by his side amid salutes from his father, King Charles III and other royals including Princess Anne and Prince William.
Prince Andrew also did not wear a uniform to the queen’s funeral. Andrew was stripped of his royal duties after being accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit that was connected to a Jeffrey Epstein victim.
Many on Twitter said the prince had been wronged.
Poor prince harry my heart breaks for that kid , not allowed his uniform or to salute… cant they just bloody let it go, his then kings son and it’s Grans funeral as well hate seeing him being treated like a second class citizen after all his been through with losing his mother💔
— Danniella Westbrook (@westbrookdanni) September 19, 2022
What’s most upsetting is that because prince harry was not allowed to wear his uniform, he wasn’t allowed to salute his commander-in-chief, granny, one last time. Sending you love, Harry 💔 pic.twitter.com/5KVvVElcDc
— michelle (@ddarveyy) September 19, 2022
One thing I don’t agree with is that Prince Harry wasn’t allowed to wear his military uniform to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Given he was the only royal to serve two tours of Afghanistan, I thought he should be bestowed this right #queensfuneral #QueenElizabethIl pic.twitter.com/kVDB7kBzhw
— Cherie n Benni (Taylor’s version) (@CherieNBenni) September 19, 2022
As noted by the Post, Prince Harry and his wife were not in the front row of mourners during the funeral, but instead were in the second row.
Amid the debate on whether the prince should have been allowed to wear a uniform, Piers Morgan said common sense should have ruled, according to an Op-Ed Morgan wrote for The Sun.
“I’m not a fan of Prince Harry, to put it mildly. I think his behavior since quitting Britain and royal duty has been appallingly selfish, greedy and damaging to the monarchy. But one thing I will never begrudge him is the right to be properly respected for his military service which included two tours of Afghanistan.
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“And I don’t think it’s right that he has been banned from wearing his uniform at events to commemorate the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II,” he wrote.
“I know the ‘rules’ say he can’t because only working royals can wear uniforms. But there are times when such protocol and rules need to be torn up, and common sense applied, and this is one of them,” Morgan wrote.
Last week, Prince Harry released a statement regarding the queen’s death on his website.
“Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings — from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren,” he wrote.
“I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over. And as it comes to first meetings, we now honor my father in his new role as King Charles III,” the statement said.
