Prince Harry is already beginning to feel the pressures of military life after he failed a computer skills test at Sandhurst. The 20-year-old was asked to complete a set of tasks during a familiarisation day at the renowned military academy, but was apparently left stumped by several of the questions.
Insiders at the institution have given assurances the trial was not a formal exam and will have no bearing on his future career. "The computer test was a lot more complex than just sending e-mails," explained one source. "The day was to give Harry a flavour of what life will be like at Sandhurst. He wasn't judged on his performance - it was more of a chance for officers to assess his strong and weak points."
The young Prince is currently enjoying his last days as a civilian before starting his training at Sandhurst. And although he may want to brush up on his software skills, the fun-loving royal has been commended on his performance in other military exercises. In his last year at Eton he impressed officers by winning the Cadet Corps' top rank, Cadet Officer, and leading the annual trooping of the colour parade.
Among those wishing him good luck as he begins the latest phase of his life will be older brother William, who is likewise expected to join the academy. "Definitely I would like to go to Sandhurst," revealed Wills last year, before joking: "That's why I put my brother in as a guinea pig first."
Prins Harry bezuipt zich nog eens goed voor militaire opleiding
Prins Harry (20) heeft zich vlak voor zijn militaire opleiding nog eens flink bezopen. Zondag wordt hij door zijn vader, de Britse troonopvolger prins Charles, naar de strenge militaire academie Sandhurst gebracht voor een basisopleiding.
Volgens The Sun stapte de prins tegen 4.00 uur 's ochtends met een vriend giechelend uit een chique Londense nachtclub. Buiten wachtte reeds een politieagent, die Harry als lijfwacht en chauffeur dient, achter het stuur van een limousine. Blijkbaar hadden ze volgens erg dronken vrienden het autoportier vergeten te sluiten, waardoor hun wagen al dadelijk na de start een geparkeerde wagen schramde.
Vermoedelijk had Harry zich uit voorzorg bedronken, want zondag wordt hij door zijn vader, de Britse troonopvolger prins Charles, naar de militaire academie Sandhurst gebracht. De basisopleiding daar is zeer hard en is het gebruik van alcohol tijdens het verloop ervan niet echt bevorderlijk. Bovendien geldt er tijdens de eerste vijf weken een uitgaansverbod
Sandhurst Academy Student D 48284-16 Sandhurst Academy Student. Obligatory Credit - CAMERA PRESS/R. Stonehouse. Another student carrying his ironing board and hangers on arrival at Sandhurst, Britain's top military academy, same day as British royal Prince Harry began a tough year of training as an army officer on 08/05/2005.
SANDHURST, UNITED KINGDOM: The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles (L) gives his son Prince Harry (C) a gentle punch as they bid farewell at The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, 35 miles west of London, 08 May 2005. Prince Harry begins his career in the British Army and will become the most senior member of the royal family in recent memory to be trained at Sandhurst. The elite academy insists the 20-year-old will not be treated differently to any other recruit. Senior officers are understood to be planning to call him Mr. Wales or Officer Cadet Wales while his fellow soldiers will just use his surname
Prins Harry op militaire academie Uitgegeven op 09 mei 2005 om 06:53 uur
(Novum/AP) - Prins Harry, de jongste zoon van de Britse kroonprins Charles en wijlen prinses Diana, is zondag begonnen aan een 44 weken durende officiersopleiding aan de militaire academie van Sandhurst in Zuid-Engeland.
Prins Charles vergezelde zijn 20-jarige zoon, een van de 271 nieuwe rekruten op de academie. Harry mag voorlopig niet naar huis, burgerkleding dragen of alcohol drinken en zal het de komende weken moeten stellen met een eenvoudig ingerichte kamer, voorzien van een eenpersoonsbed, wastafel en kledingkast.
Prins Harry op militaire academie AMSTERDAM - Prins Harry, de jongste zoon van de Britse kroonprins Charles en wijlen prinses Diana, is zondag begonnen aan een 44 weken durende officiersopleiding aan de militaire academie van Sandhurst in Zuid-Engeland.
Foto: APPrins Charles vergezelde zijn 20-jarige zoon, een van de 271 nieuwe rekruten op de academie. Harry mag voorlopig niet naar huis, burgerkleding dragen of alcohol drinken en zal het de komende weken moeten stellen met een eenvoudig ingerichte kamer, voorzien van een eenpersoonsbed, wastafel en kledingkast
Prince on patrolBy REBECCA ENGLISH, Daily Mail 08:38am 1st June 2005 Last time he slept under the stars it was part of a five-star African safari.
This time, Prince Harry is also running through thick woodland, lugging a heavy backpack and rifle, puzzling over maps and cooking on an open fire.
Officer Cadet Wales, as he is known, is facing the sternest test of his fledgling Army career.
For five gruelling days he and his companions are putting into practice the battlefield skills they have been learning about since joining the Army four weeks ago.
Operation Self Reliance is also designed to allow instructors at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst to calculate their physical endurance and team-building skills.
The exercise, which started on Monday, is taking place in Pippingford Park, at the heart of Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, an area often used for Army manoeuvres.
Rare sighting
Yesterday Harry, who is said to have struggled with the physical demands of his training, was out with cadets from Alamein Company clutching the 5.56mm rifle he received in his first week. His trigger finger appeared to bandaged.
It is the first time the 20-year-old prince has been seen in public since he arrived at Sandhurst on May 8 accompanied by his father, the Prince of Wales.
Each of the trainee officers wore Army fatigues, helmets bearing their names, lace-up boots and a back pack. Throughout the morning Harry's group - 21 Platoon - could be seen practising patrol techniques and orienteering skills.
At one point Harry crouched in a classic military manoeuvre while his companions surrounded him.
"It is an extremely tough and challenging few days," said one former Sandhurst recruit who survived Self Reliance.
"By the end of it Harry will be aching, hungry and exhausted, but then it is straight back to Sandhurst to continue his training. There's no let-up whatsoever. That's why the British Army is the best in the world."
'Hard going'
Well-placed sources say that while Harry is fitting in well with his fellow cadets, he has found the course, which lasts a year, hard going so far.
The source added: "Harry is well-liked by the other cadets and hasn't received any special treatment since he arrived - although some of his colleagues are a bit perturbed by the fact there are police with them wherever they go.
"However they do feel very sorry for Harry's personal protection officers - especially as they are having to go out with the prince on the exercise this week."
Royal sources say Harry is not the only cadet to have had treatmentPrince Harry has been excused from wearing his heavy boots at Sandhurst after suffering agonising blisters.
The 20-year-old, undergoing basic training at the Surrey Royal Military Academy, developed weals on his feet during a gruelling five-day exercise.
Operation Self-Reliance reportedly required him to endure 10-mile yomps through Ashdown Forest in East Sussex carrying a heavy back pack and rifle.
Royal sources say Harry is not the only cadet to have visited the infirmary.
He was apparently granted special dispensation to wear trainers after he asked medical staff to dress his wounds and they saw how bad the blisters were.
Cadets are normally barred from wearing any footwear except for their boots, which are provided several months in advance so they can break them in.
Knee injury
The prince's entry into Sandhurst was delayed from earlier in the year to allow a knee injury to recover.
He had been due to enrol at the college in January but injured his knee while training with the Army ahead of his test during the summer.
He aggravated the injury in October while coaching children for the Rugby Football Union.
Other famous figures who attended Sandhurst include the Sultan of Brunei, Prince Michael of Kent and Sir Winston Churchill.
HORRIFIED Prince Harry got back from a training exercise at Sandhurst to find the contents of his room - including his underwear, boots, bed, desk and wardrobe - dumped out on the parade ground.
A sergeant major at the crack military academy then screamed at the exhausted Prince: "Wales, you've got ten minutes to get that lot back in order or it all goes out again!"
Startled Harry, who started his training last month, immediately began lugging the gear back indoors. But he only made the 10-minute deadline because fellow cadets helped him out.
His gear had been dumped outside by Army instructors in a tradition known as "beasting" - which is designed to build up team spirit in recruits. A Sandhurst source said: "Harry's face was a picture when he came back from a hard training exercise and saw the devastation.
"His underwear, uniform, shirts, boots, trainers and the rest of his furniture had been tipped on to the parade ground. It was a complete mess.
"He was already exhausted. He sat down, put his head in his hands and looked ready to give up. But his instructor gave him a kick up the arse and the other cadets from his platoon gave him a hand and he got everything sorted in time."
An ex-cadet said: "Beastings are a way of breaking down individuality, making sure people become team players.
"The instructors empty everything out of your lockers. They take great pleasure in doing so.
"They know you'll never be able to get everything in order in time and so you have to ask for help from the rest of your platoon. Then when someone else is in the same spot you return the favour, so learn to rely on each other."
Twenty-year-old Harry's ordeal came after he was pictured looking puffed last Tuesday after a tough exercise.
Carrying an SA80 assault rifle and 25k pack, he had joined fellow recruits for an eight-hour yomp across heathland in East Sussex. He had spent the night under canvas and been woken at 5am to begin the 10-mile hike.
Prince Charles' younger son Prince Harry will be getting crash courses in sex ed and social skills as part of his military training at Sandhurst.
Along with fellow military cadets, the Prince will be attending a two-hour lecture entitled "The Facts Of Life" this week, learning about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.
And while the young recruits will be schooled on such private matters, they'll learn how to put on a good public face as well. Officer Cadet Wales, as he is known at the prestigious academy, is also expected to adopt impeccable table manners in a course called "The Exemplary Officer".
There, Harry, who has been reprimanded for his "attitude" in the past, will learn conversation skills, proper use of cutlery and toasting etiquette, all in preparation for a gruelling five-course dinner examination.
In addition to learning table manners in a course called "The Exemplary Officer", Prince Harry will be schooled on sex as part of his Sandhurst training
Boss and recruit ... General Ritchie and officer cadet Harry
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By DUNCAN LARCOMBE Royal Reporter
SANDHURST’S commandant led the amazing about turn in security yesterday — by taking personal charge of the main gate’s guard at 7.30am.
Major General Andrew Ritchie arrived on the dot in the wake of our amazing scoop in which a reporter got within yards of Prince Harry at the world-famous military academy.
He also ordered Gurkha soldiers to be posted at both ends of Harry’s accommodation block to protect the Royal officer cadet while he sleeps.
And he unleashed an armed security sweep of the ENTIRE academy and its 450 acres of grounds.
Officer cadets were last night still patrolling the woodland and open ground with loaded SA80 rifles. Soldiers with mirrors were checking under vehicles.
Now ... Operation Wideawake in action Pictures: DOUG SEEBURG and BEN CAWTHRA
The drastic measures follow our man — known as The Investigator — being able to wander around the Surrey academy with a fake bomb.
He videoed Harry from a parked car and strolled into his accommodation block in the New College building.
General Ritchie’s Operation Wideawake clearly demonstrated how the security blunder has embarrassed the MoD and Sandhurst staff.
One academy source said last night: “This is seen as a major embarrassment which reflects badly on everyone here. We have all been told to challenge all strangers on the base and be on the lookout for anything suspicious, no matter how trivial.
Access ... our reporter gets in yesterday
“There were dozens of extra police on the base today topped up with regular patrols by armed soldiers.”
Harry has Royal Protection Squad officers with him at Sandhurst.
But they are NOT responsible for security on the site — and would assume the place was secure.
Gurkhas guarding Harry’s Alamein Company accommodation will provide security on top of the Met team.
So close ... our man films Harry
General Ritchie has also ordered that guests at the base are only allowed through the gates if they are escorted in by the people they have arranged to meet.
The measures are seen as the only way to ensure Harry, 20, remains safe during the 36 weeks remaining of his course to become an Army officer.
Last night Clarence House said they thought the recruit we highlighted in our video still might not be Harry.
A spokesman added: “Having reviewed the footage and spoken to those who were with Harry we are of the opinion it is not him.”
An MoD spokesman later added: “I can confirm that Sandhurst are categorically saying it isn’t Harry.”
But a Sun spokesman replied: “We are confident it is Harry.”
Fallout ... vehicles queue in massive clampdown
Ex-SAS hero Andy McNab said the issue was not who is in the picture — but the fact security had been so easily breached.
He added: “It doesn’t matter who it is. The fact is that there was a breakdown in security.”
And retired Chief Supt Dai Davies — former head of royal security — said: “This isn’t about whether Prince Harry was or was not caught on video. The Sun’s excellent investigation demonstrably outlined a failure to recognise the inherent danger that such laxity allows into the country’s foremost military academy.”
Our man drove into Sandhurst through the main gate after posing as a warfare student and making an appointment to visit the library.
Defence Secretary John Reid yesterday ordered a probe. He will also quiz the Army’s overall chief of training, Lt Gen Freddie Viggers.
An MoD spokesman confirmed: “Sandhurst is conducting a review of procedures and changes will be made.”
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain ordered an inquiry on Thursday into how a journalist carrying a dummy bomb breached security to enter the military academy where Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry is studying.
The Sun newspaper said an undercover reporter posing as a student wandered unchallenged for seven hours around the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where Harry began his army training in May.
"I have demanded an immediate investigation into this serious security breach," Defence Secretary John Reid said in a statement. "I have instructed Sandhurst to change their procedures to prevent a recurrence."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said a review was under way and that changes would be made to security at the base.
The prince, younger son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, is being trained as an officer cadet and will be eligible for service after the 44-week course ends.
The reporter photographed documents detailing the 20-year-old prince's routine and filmed him with students at the base in Berkshire, 30 miles (48 km) west of London.
The newspaper printed a grainy front-page picture of the prince wearing a beret and carrying a rifle.
The unnamed reporter said he gained access to the base by contacting its librarian. The academy's library is open to the public by appointment, the paper said.
The reporter said once he had entered the base he made a fake bomb with wires and a clock before filming himself holding it outside a college building.
He said he was finally challenged by a soldier seven hours after he arrived as he walked through an accommodation area. The reporter said he answered some questions before driving off.
The incident was the latest in a series of high-profile breaches in royal security.
In April, a journalist drove a package into the heart of Windsor Castle before Prince Charles' marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Last year a man tricked his way into Windsor Castle by posing as a policeman, and in 2003 a comedian gate-crashed the 21st birthday party of Charles's older son Prince William.
Security at many public buildings in Britain was increased after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and police chiefs said they feared bombings were inevitable.
Prince Harry made his public debut as an officer cadet today as he marched out in his first parade at Sandhurst.
After less than seven weeks of gruelling training the Prince marched in perfect step and raised his hat in three cheers to his grandmother, the Queen, at the elite college’s colours parade.
But the Queen, who had been due to preside over the event, was absent today after falling ill with a heavy cold.
General Sir Michael Walker, Chief of Defence Staff, stood in for the Monarch at today’s parade, the first of its type at Sandhurst for more than 30 years.
The Prince stood among 755 fellow cadets in sweltering heat during the hour-long ceremony at the military academy in Surrey.
Harry showed off his immaculately pressed uniform as he stood in line, second from the end in the second row from the back as the new colours were presented.
General Walker stopped and had a few words with the Prince who stood straight-backed, staring forward and nodded almost imperceptibly displaying his Golden Jubilee medal as the General, inspected the cadets.
Today’s parade was the first separate presentation of new flags to the academy since 1974.
In 1991 new colours were handed over at the same time as the regular sovereign’s parade.
Around 3500 guests sat in stadium-style seating around the parade square in front of the imposing Old College building with dignitaries including diplomats from 57 countries, took their seats at the front. The recruits stood motionless as prayers were read, including the line “We humbly beseech thee to bless thy servant our gracious Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth.”
As the ceremony drew to a close the Prince, who was recently allowed to temporarily ditch his heavy black army boots because of blisters, marched in perfect step as the recruits paraded around the square.
As the order “eyes right” was given the Prince found himself face to face with a pen packed with photographers straining for the best shot of the famous officer cadet.
In his address General Walker spoke of disappointment at hearing of the Queen’s illness but told the recruits: “I’m sure you all wish to join me in wishing Her Majesty good speed for a rapid and full recovery.”
In a personal message from the Queen the General told the recruits: “Throughout the ages a heavy burden of responsibility has been entrusted to those in the military profession. This has never been truer than today when many of the British armed forces are engaged in many demanding and dangerous operations around the world.
The message continued: “The challenges that lie ahead will test to the full your character, your physical endurance and your intellect.
“You will have the privilege of commanding men and women of the highest quality and that privilege demands a strong sense of responsibility and the need to set an example and to remain true to the Sandhurst motto ’Serve To Lead”’.
The Queen’s message concluded: “Remember to uphold the high standards and values that you have been taught here for your soldiers and your countries deserve nothing less.”
Among the 755 future officers on parade today were 63 overseas cadets from 36 countries and 85 female cadets.