The harmfulness or otherwise of a magazine like New Idea is debatable. On one hand, publishing rubbish on the rich and famous is evil (even stars should be allowed to have cellulite, shouldn’t they?), while on the other it’s just vapid titillation.

But in outing Prince Harry’s military service in Afghanistan, New Idea has not only broken an embargo even the British tabloids have managed to respect, it has angered men with guns (and tanks and hand grenades and laser-guided missiles) and their families. Their 110-plus responses to the revelation of New Idea’s Harry horror — now removed from the site — speak for themselves.

 

But New Idea is not taking the criticism lying down. Here is the magazine’s courageous apology/explanation: