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LONDON - British defence officials are considering plans to pull Prince Harry out of Afghanistan, after an Australian women's magazine broke a news blackout about his deployment.
Revelations that Prince Harry has been fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan's Helmand province since before Christmas have alarmed officials, who fear
it has put him a greater risk.
The prince, who is 10 weeks into a 14-week deployment, remained in Afghanistan last night, but had been moved for his own safety, British media reported.
The Ministry of Defence told The Times that no decision had yet been made on whether it was safe for him to remain on his tour of duty.
"The operational chain of command is now looking at a variety of options," a ministry spokesman told the paper.
The Guardian newspaper said commanders were expected to activate their contingency plan to fly the prince out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible, amid fears the Taleban will step up attacks on British bases.
Britain's army chief has slammed the Australian women's magazine New Idea for leaking news of the 23-year-old prince's Afghan mission, despite the existence of a strict media blackout agreed to by British media.
New Idea, which claims it knew nothing of the blackout, published a story about Harry's secret tour on its website in January, but it appears few noticed the story.
It was only after US website the Drudge Report picked up the story and broadcast it around the world, after a German newspaper ran a piece yesterday, that the storm blew up.
"I am very disappointed that foreign websites have decided to run this story without consulting us," Chief of the General Staff and professional head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said.
Harry, the third in line to the British throne, was allowed to go to Afghanistan after being denied the chance to serve in Iraq, due to the security risk sparked by media publicity.
Since he began his deployment in mid-December, the prince has been based in Helmand province as a Forward Air Controller responsible for providing cover for frontline troops.
His role made him responsible for giving final clearance for air strikes on Taleban targets.
He's also been personally involved in clashes with Taleban fighters, including a frontline fire-fight with the militants less than 500 metres from enemy positions.
Harry's deployment makes him the first British royal to be sent on active military service in nearly 26 years, when his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew Royal Navy helicopters during the Falklands War with Argentina in 1982.
As part of the media blackout deal, British journalists were allowed to visit the prince on duty, where he said the Queen had personally informed him he'd be going to Afghanistan.
"She told me I'm off to Afghanistan," Harry said of his grandmother.
"She was very 'pro' me going ... I think she's relieved that I get the chance to do what I want to do."
Dannatt, the army chief, said the prince's conduct on operations in Afghanistan had been "exemplary".
"He has been fully involved in operations and has run the same risks as everyone else in his battle group," Dannatt said.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said "the whole of Britain will be proud of the outstanding service" the prince was giving alongside other British forces.
Harry had told journalists that home-grown extremists could try to "slot" him when he returns to Britain, as punishment for fighting the Taleban.
"Once this ... comes out, every single person that supports them will be trying to slot me," he told reporters who went to Afghanistan to cover his deployment.
"... no doubt I'll be a top target."
But he said that as a Royal, he was used to threats.
He said he was expecting a high degree of anonymity in Afghanistan that would allow him to feel "normal".
"I think dressed in the same uniform as numerous other people, thousands of other people in Afghanistan will give me one of the best chances to be just a normal person," he said.
"That will be massively important for me, it could be a turning point."
He also said he often wished he wasn't a Royal.
"I wish that quite a lot actually," he said.
"William and I have said numerous times that there's a lot of opportunities that we miss out on - as well as we also got a lot of chances - for who we are."
He said his Royal status had prevented his deployment to Iraq last year and that had been difficult to accept.
"So yes, I did think at that time that I wished I wasn't (a Royal), but at the same time I'm very grateful for the job that I've got and the way that things are," he said.
- AAP
