Who was Maradona referring to when he said “this man’s brother…”
The brother of King Carlos III to whom Maradona’s comment refers is the Prince Andrew (Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor)Duke of York.
Prince Andrew served in the British Royal Navy as helicopter pilot Sea King aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible during the conflict over the Malvinas Islands in 1982. He participated in transfer, reconnaissance and rescue missions.
Diego Maradona’s reference to Prince Andrew “sinking an Argentine ship” is an expression of the strong anti-British sentiment that he, and much of the Argentine population, felt in the wake of the war, but not military accurate.
The Argentine ship whose sinking generated the most controversy and the greatest number of Argentine casualties was the ARA General Belgrano Cruise. It was sunk on May 2, 1982 by torpedoes launched by the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror.
sinking of general belgrano
It should be noted that Prince Andrew was a helicopter pilot. His unit and the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible played an important role in the war, but he did not participate directly in the attack and sinking of General Belgrano, which was executed by a submarine.
Therefore, Maradona’s statement is a metaphor for British and royal involvement in the conflict, channeling Argentine resentment towards a high-profile royal figure who was actively in the war.
Embed
