Iain Murray is quite right about the fiasco of Prince Harry’s deployment to Iraq. In the wake of the Iranian hostages, it confirms that one of the last credible militaries in the western world is helpless not just in the face of gangster provocations but in the mere threat thereof.

Iain said it calls into question the whole point of Royals in the Armed Forces, which is true. But it also calls into question the whole point of the Armed Forces: even the best military tradition cannot survive the dispositions of the broader society. These are grim times for Britain.