‘Crass’ Prince Edward sees the benefit of teen’s death

Prince Edward stands accused of making "crass" and "insensitive" remarks on a visit to Australia, seven years after his father gaffed by asking an aborigine if he was still "throwing spears". Asked about the 2006 death in the outback of a teenager taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, the Earl of Wessex suggested it might act as a drive to recruitment to the scheme.

Admitting to an Australian newspaper that he did not know about the death of 17-year-old David Iredale, the Earl instead told an anecdote about another child who died in the early days of the scheme. After that death, he said: "All the trustees were convinced that was the end of it, that [the Award Scheme] would never go any further."

But, he explained, instead of having a negative impact on the scheme, the death actually increased interest in it - seeming to imply the same thing might have happened after the 2006 death. The Earl said the earlier death changed the award's reputation among young people, leading them to think: "'Wow, this is serious. You could die doing this'." He added: "And the sense of adventure, the sense of excitement, that it gave you, that sort of risk element - young people are like that still, that sense of adventure, the sense that it [death] is possible."

Reacting to his comments, the mother of David Iredale, who died of dehydration in 2006 after 18 hours without water, said the Awards Scheme had "serious shortcomings" and was not well-regulated in Australia. She forbore to comment directly on Edward's ill-judged remarks, but the Australian media has been quick to accuse him of committing an appalling gaffe, and quick to point out that when the Earl himself was 22 he quit his training course with the Royal Marines because he found it too tough.