Queen Elizabeth's front line desires for her grandsons
A former army chief has revealed Queen Elizabeth's desires for both her grandsons to serve on the front lines.
A new documentary has revealed that the late monarch wanted both Prince Harry and Prince William to serve in Afghanistan because they "must do their duty".
In the upcoming ITV documentary The Real Crown: Inside the House of Windsor, Former Army head General Sir Mike Jackson shared the details of a private conversation he had with Queen Elizabeth, breaking strict royal protocol by doing so.
"What goes on in those audiences and who says what to whom remains for the two people involved, and I will break the rule about not divulging what goes on on this one occasion," Sir Mike told the five-part series.
"She was very clear. She said, 'My grandsons have taken my shilling, therefore they must do their duty.' And that was that."
Despite the Queen's wishes, Prince Harry was the only one of the brothers to go to Afghanistan, completing two tours of duty, during his 10 years the Army.
Sir Mike went on to say that sending Prince William, the heir to the throne, into a war zone was too much for the Queen.
"It was decided that William as heir to the heir, the risk is too great," he said.
"But for his younger brother, the risk was acceptable."
Mark Cann, director of the British Forces Foundation, told the documentary that despite the reservations of the Crown, Prince William was enthusiastic about serving his country.
He said, "William was very keen to go. Unequivocally."
"But it was complex, and some very great minds and experienced people took a view on it."
"I think it was really tricky. Anybody who's in the military who hasn't actually been on operation feels a sense of disappointment."
"And I think especially that was the one (war) at the time, you've got everyone around you at the time who's been involved in it. So there is a sense of disappointment."
The series goes on to explore the Queen's extensive knowledge about what was happening on the battlefields, with the former head of MI6 Sir John Scarlett saying the monarch had "complete clearance to everything".
"She has complete access to an exceptional amount of info and insight for longer than anyone else," Sir John said.
"She's very, very discreet, completely reliable and completely on top of the detail."
"I remember thinking at the time, 'Wow, Her Majesty knows more about this than we do'."
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