BRITAIN:Downing Street maintained silence yesterday following Prince Andrew's surprising breach of protocol in his criticism of the Bush administration's alleged failure to heed British advice on post-war strategy for Iraq.
Although his comments drew some fire in Washington, Buckingham Palace had already moved to play down any potential embarrassment, suggesting there was nothing "particularly critical or controversial" in the Duke of York's widely reported interview for the International Herald Tribune.
Protocol dictates that members of the British royal family refrain from public comment on sensitive political and international issues, although the prince's brother, Prince Charles, and their father, Prince Philip, have not always successfully avoided controversy.
The surprise was that it was Prince Andrew - speaking before leading a 10-day trade mission to the US - who should express such strong personal regret about the "post-conflict" situation in Iraq that has reversed British public opinion on the war and fuelled internal Labour tensions about the British government's alliance with the Bush White House.
The palace spokesman emphasised Prince Andrew's belief that the US remained Britain's "number one ally and friend". But the duke undoubtedly reflected popular sentiment when saying that the aftermath of the Iraq conflict had fuelled "a healthy scepticism" toward what was said in Washington and a feeling of "why didn't anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given".
Prince Andrew's criticisms were taken to refer to British advice, rejected during the conflict itself, concerning post-war strategy for rebuilding Iraqi institutions. Geoff Hoon, the British defence secretary at the time, told the Daily Telegraph in 2006 that he and then prime minister Tony Blair had "lost the argument" even before the fighting had begun. Specifically, Mr Hoon said he and Mr Blair had urged Washington not to dismantle the Iraqi army or purge all members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party from senior positions.
Prince Andrew suggested that, because of Britain's imperial history, it had experience of many of the foreign policy challenges now facing America. "If you are looking at colonialism, if you are looking at operations on an international scale, if you are looking at understanding each other's culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency - we have been through them all," the duke said. "We've won some, lost some, drawn some. The fact is there is quite a lot of experience over here which is valid and should be listened to."