英国王子以身作则 投身抗洪救灾

英国《每日邮报》网站报道，2月14日，威廉和哈里王子前往洪水危机前线，投身抗洪救灾工作。在此之前，女王曾明确批评政府对洪灾的反应。

当天早上6点，身穿军装的哈里和身穿“平民”装的威廉悄悄加入皇家骑兵团，在达切特和士兵一起垒砌沙包墙，帮助加固距女王居所温莎城堡仅一箭之遥的防护设施。他们帮忙从军用卡车上卸下沙包，再装到货运车上，将它们运送到最需要的地区。

据消息人士称，多日以来，威廉和哈里一直想为抗洪救灾做些事情，但是因为担心分散对王室所面临洪水危机的注意力，他们不愿意宣传自己的出现。一位皇室助手说，“他们不想宣传这件事。12日晚上才决定这么做。他们非常愿意帮忙做些救援工作，并且认为加入军队应该是最好的方式。”

但是不久，他们到来的消息就泄露出去。据该行政区职员格雷厄姆·利弗说，“他们非常投入，希望知道事情的进展情况。他们一直在达切特，我认为反响很好。他们非常自然。说实话，从他们的穿着来看，他们走在人群中，没有人会认出他们。他们特别喜欢和士兵交谈。我们从军队得到了绝好的支持，如果他们不来达切特，我们区已经被淹没了。”

其实，他们并非首次在灾难地区工作，提供紧急救援——威廉曾经是救援直升机飞机员；哈里也曾两次赴阿富汗服役。

在此次危机期间，威廉和哈里的祖母女王也向洪水灾民伸出了援助之手，向受洪水影响的萨默塞特农民提供来自温莎皇家农场的饲料和草垫。

因为没有疏浚脆弱的河流而使灾难加剧，英国环保署屡遭指责。事实上，女王公开做出的努力正是责备政府没有更好地应对极端天气造成的广泛破坏。

Princes William and Harry today joined the flood relief effort by helping soldiers to lay sandbags in Datchet.

The brothers secretly joined members of Harry's Household Cavalry regiment to shore up the defences just a stone's throw from the Queen's residence, Windsor Castle.

Their trip to the front line of the crisis is reportedly the second intervention into the flooding crisis by the Royal Family, after the monarch apparently criticised the Government's response to the disaster.

According to sources, William and Harry had been keen to play a part for some days but did not want to publicise their presence for fear of distracting from the crisis facing householders.

They joined military personnel at 6am this morning and had hoped to stay working all day. But by mid morning, word of their presence had already slipped out.

Harry was wearing his army fatigues while William was in 'civilian' dress.

A royal aide said: 'This is not something they wanted publicised and it was only decided on Wednesday night.

'They were very keen to help with the flood relief effort and thought that joining the military would be the best way.'

A Buckingham Palace spokesman told MailOnline: ‘They joined the Household Cavalry this morning from 6am and they have been helping to build walls of sandbags.’

William and Harry later left the office of Datchet Parish Council and got into a car alongside military personnel to continue the relief effort.

Parish clerk Graham Leaver said: 'They were very involved and wanting to know what was going on. They have been in Datchet and the area and I think it's gone down very well. That is my assessment.

'They were very natural. To be honest, they could have walked in among people here and nobody would have recognised them looking at the way they were dressed.

'They were particularly interested in talking to the troops. The support we have received from the Army has been absolutely excellent and if they hadn't come into Datchet we as a parish would have been overwhelmed.'

While the floodwaters have receded since their peak earlier this week, 2in of rain was set to fall today with more tomorrow, raising the possibility of homes and businesses facing fresh horror over the weekend.

The princes helped by unloading sandbags from military trucks onto freight trains which would then take them to areas where they are most needed.

They are no strangers to working in disaster zones and providing emergency relief - William has worked as a rescue helicopter pilot, while Harry has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

The Queen, William and Harry's grandmother, has also been lending a hand to flood victims by providing farmers with a way to look after their livestock during the crisis.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'The Queen is supporting Somerset farmers affected by the flooding on the Somerset Levels by contributing feed and bedding from the royal farms at Windsor.'

The public statement came as Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg denied a report that the Queen criticised the Government response to the floods in a private meeting with him in his role as president of the Privy Council.

Asked on LBC radio whether it was true that the Queen had 'waded in' over flooding, Mr Clegg replied: 'No.' He declined to discuss the content of their conversations any further.

But the fact that her efforts have been made public will be seen as a coded rebuke to the Government's reaction to the widespread devastation caused by the extreme weather.

Meanwhile, Lord Smith - a former Labour minister who has been heavily criticised for his response to the floods crisis - was far away from affected areas as he was seen outside his home in Islington.

The grandee has faced repeated calls for his resignation over accusations the Environment Agency exacerbated the scale of the disaster by failing to dredge vulnerable rivers.