THE Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst received a vote of confidence from the Prince of Wales after a newspaper reporter caused a security alarm by smuggling a fake bomb into the establishment a month after Prince Harry started his officer-training course.
However, a spokesman for Clarence House denied a report that the Prince of Wales had intervened in writing to prevent Major-General Andrew Ritchie from losing his job as commandant after the breach of security in June.
The spokesman said: “There is no log of any correspondence about Sandhurst over this (issue), but the Prince of Wales fully backs General Ritchie.”
The official was unable to confirm whether the Prince had spoken to anyone in the Government about the Sandhurst intrusion, or whether there was felt to be a need to voice support for the general at the time of the incident.