I don't have a great deal to say about the latest idiocy by this young man who is third in line to be king of the United Kingdom and various other spots as much of what I would say has been said better by others. Two others in particular.
The first is Melanie Phillips, who sums up a thought I had, namely that much of the outrage is being driven by the same people who are outraged at Israel but not the Palestinians. It seems strange how the same people who can correctly point out in this instance that the holocaust killed millions of Jews and caused suffering for millions more (this timely description of the lives of Greek Jews seems relevant - thanks Baldilocks), can also write pieces claiming that the Israeli state is as bad as the Nazis in their persecution of Palestinians without identifying the secret police, gas chambers, death camps etc. that would seem necessary for Israel to posess if it were really as bad as the Nazis.
The second is the Diplomad, who makes another excellent point - would the outrage be the same if Harry had dressed up as a Red Army officer? or a Maoist?
Indeed let me combine those thoughts. What would be the reaction if Prince Harry showed up dressed as Yasir Arafat or as a suicide bomber? Do you think there would be as much outrage? No me neither.
As far as the act itself goes it seems to be no more than could occur to any youth; at about the same time in my life I showed up, along with certain friends, at a Finnish fancy dress party in a Soviet uniform. Looking back on it the thing that amazes me most was that none of the Finns we met while on the bus going to the party did much more that glower at us. The problem is that, as the Diplomad also points out, his celebrity status means that he is supposed to be better than this. God knows why we are supposed to care about his behaviour. As someone who has never been interested in gossip magazines and other trappings of today's celebrity culture it is totally beyond me why many people seem entranced with the way other, generally richer, people live. This applies equally to Prince Harry, David Beckham and Madonna.