perfumed prince
n.— «Where Hack and I did—and I still do—agree was in our disdain for ticket-punching senior military officers, who were more concerned about their own careers than they were about the individual soldiers under their commands. Hack referred to them as “perfumed princes,” and he wanted them out of the defense establishment just as soon as they showed their cards and before they could make decisions affecting the lives of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen.» —“David Hackworth: Unforgettable soldier” by W. Thomas Smith Jr. Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Wash.) May 12, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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