Seriously?
Members of my family serve so happy to answer this.
No, I don’t think Edward does as he dropped out of his Royal Marines training having only completed one third of the course. Absolutely no shame on him as it is an extremely hard thing to do, and a lot of pressure as his Cambridge place depended on it, but I don’t think he deserves medals for other things no because he never passed his final training. Funnily enough, he still ended up going to Cambridge.
Andrew did serve but I agree with other senior navy and forces members who urged that Andrew should lose his military titles. I believe more than 150 ex-Royal Navy, RAF and Army personnel even wrote to the late Queen to say the duke’s position was ‘untenable’. So no I don’t think he should be parading about with medals on either, or parading about at all actually after indulging in behaviour “non becoming”.
William and Harry very much deserve to wear their medals.
Charles did reasonably well in the navy by all accounts and was described as “personable and hard-working” but he did leave the navy three months after a serious gaffe which took place when he was in charge of HMS Bronington. He had a good service record on previous ships so who knows whether he was at fault or not but he received criticism from his superiors for the incident. It’s unclear whether he was meant to leave at that time or not. So yes he can wear his medals but that’s not to say he didn’t receive preferential treatment.
Princess Anne is not on your list but hasn’t served but still parades in uniform with a shoulder full of medals for honorary roles. She was made Admiral in 2012. In 2020, she was also made a General in the British Army and an Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Air Force.
She may well do an excellent job with great aplomb and had great fun leaping on and off horses during the Coronation - all marvellous you might say - but she is essentially wearing a costume. I doubt she feels remotely ashamed about it though as she doesn’t strike me as the reflective type. And the country never questions it!
Similarly, how must Edward feel when lined up alongside real soldiers? He looks to
me as if he suffers with a conscience but who knows.
It’s all so fundamentally unfair. That’s my main onjection.
No one can tell if Charles and Andrew deserved to reached the positions they did in the Navy on merit or because of their family. Which is bad for them as well as us. I think we can guess whether or not they made it to Oxbridge on merit.
Your question encapsulates exactly what I detest most about the monarchy MrsFinkelstein that they assume our respect for reasons based on artifice not merit. And they require jewels, tiaras, elaborate robes, gold carriages even fake military uniforms in some cases to suspend the disbelief!
It’s profoundly unfair on the ordinary bright young man from Preston who is ambitious to work his way up to Air Vice Marshall on merit alone. Ditto the young woman from an average comprehensive school in Walsall who couldn’t get an Oxbridge place because a Royal had taken it. Even if an extra space had been created for a Prince, what message does this send out to young people today?
That the greatest privileges are bestowed on those who are rich and of high rank?
That life is unfair and you had better get used to it now?
And most people on here, by supporting the RF, are also cheering on this fundamental inequity.