Britain’s Prince Harry stunned more than 250 guests at a costume party by showing up dressed head-to-toe as a Nazi soldier, with a red armband emblazoned with a big swastika.
Harry (right), third in line to the throne behind dad Prince Charles (left) and brother William, incredibly pulled the stupid stunt less than three weeks before his uncle Prince Edward represents their family and country at a solemn ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
Harry wore the attire of a member of Nazi Gen. Erwin Rommel’s infamous Afrika Korps, The Sun newspaper in London reports.
Last night, 20-year-old Harry issued an apology for appearing in the atrocious get-up.
“I am very sorry if I have caused any offense,” he said. “It was a poor choice of costume, and I apologize.”
Guests said conversation at last Saturday’s party for his friend Harry Meade’s 22nd birthday nearly came to a halt when Harry arrived with a badge of the German Wehrmacht army on his shirt collar, according to The Sun.
Harry, who is to attend Britain’s military academy, Sandhurst, this year, also wore an army jacket with a German flag on the arm.
“What on earth was Harry thinking of?” one guest said.
But Harry, who spent the night chain-smoking and drinking port and white wine, seemed oblivious to his bombshell appearance.
Reaction was swift.
Former royal press officer Dickie Arbiter said the prince had been “incredibly stupid and arrogant.”
Former Armed Forces Minister Doug Henderson said the incident showed the prince was “not suitable” for Sandhurst, and his application “should be withdrawn immediately.”
The incident follows a series of embarrassments to Britain’s royal family, which has tried to downplay its historic connection to Germany and much-gossiped-about ties to Hitler.
A U.S. intelligence report released in 2003 said King Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, was viewed by Hitler as the only person he could negotiate with during World War II.
Edward, the uncle of Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, was believed to be Hitler’s choice to rule Britain as a figurehead once Germany won the war.
Also, Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip created an uproar in 1986 when he addressed German Chancellor Helmut Kohl as “reichskanzler” – Hitler’s title.
In 1985, it was revealed that the father of Prince Michael of Kent, Harry’s cousin, was a Nazi party member. Members of Philip’s family also have been identified as Nazis.
The royal family – much of which is descended from German stock – changed its name to the House of Windsor from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha during World War I.