Posted on 03/01/2008 3:20:18 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
Prince Harry is back in London after a short-lived stint on the frontlines in Afghanistan.
The prince was pulled out of the war zone after a media leak blew the cover on his deployment in Afghanistan since December.
Second Lieutenant, Prince Harry was welcomed at an airfield outside London by his father Prince Charles and brother Prince William.
He returned after serving only 10 weeks with British troops in Afghanistan, after the foreign press leaked news of his secret deployment.
The prince is far from happy at being dragged back from the front.
''At the end of the day if you join the Army, you expect to go on operations. I don't want to sit around at Windsor. You know, it's nice to be away from all the press and the papers,'' said Prince Harry.
The prince's deployment had gone undisclosed under an agreement between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and major news organisations, designed to protect Harry and his fellow soldiers.
Now, the Ministry of Defence said the news reports made him an easy target for terrorists in Afghanistan.
Ministry officials said he could be sent out once again, later in the year, but to areas like the south Atlantic, the Pacific Ocean, West Indies or the Persian Gulf.
None of them, areas of open armed combat but assignments that will help the prince earn more stripes.
Charles 'proud' of Harry,
Britain's Prince Charles said he was ''enormously proud'' of his youngest son Prince Harry and relieved to see him home ''in one piece'' as the young royal returned to the country on Saturday from the Afghan frontline.
At the same time, the heir to the British throne said he was frustrated that Harry's stint in Afghanistan had been cut short following a media leak about his deployment.
''I feel particular frustration that he was removed unexpectedly early because apart from anything else, he had been looking forward to coming back with the rest of his regiment,'' said Charles, who along with elder son William was present at the military airbase in Oxfordshire to greet the 23-year-old prince.
Charles said he was ''enormously proud'' of Harry, and he now understood what the families and loved ones of soldiers endured when they were serving abroad.
''As you can imagine it's obviously a great relief as far as I'm concerned to see him home in one piece,'' the Prince of Wales was quoted as saying by the British media.
Charles said, ''It's been quite difficult also having to keep quiet about the fact he was serving in that part of the world. People kept saying to me 'you must be so frustrated about Harry not being able to serve abroad'.''
''I also feel very strongly that we don't often appreciate what the people in the armed forces are doing, putting up with the most impossible conditions,'' he said.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, ''The whole country is going to be delighted that Prince Harry has come back safely.''
Sounds like Harry is one brave kid. You have to respect that.
Britain's Prince Harry, left, is seen shortly after his return from active duty in Afghanistan, as his father Prince Charles, right, escorts him as he leaves the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton air base in Oxfordshire, southern England, Saturday, March 1, 2008. Prince Harry returned to Britain on Saturday after his 10-week stint serving with the military in Afghanistan was cut short by media disclosure of his secret deployment.
A British ditty from the beginning of the last century:
“You do not have
To bribe or twist
The arm
Of the British journalist
Considering what he would do
Unasked
There is no reason to.”
The young man seems to be a devotee of the Old School concepts regarding duty and honor.
Grandma spoke to him. ;-)
But damn if I would convict him if I sat on the jury.
He does look good in uniform.
:-)
I fail to see the good that today’s media does. It seems that all they do is leak important information like this on a daily basis.
Prince Harry is singlehandily keeping the Royal Family relevant in the future.
Good head of hair, Harry, but does that red hair meet British army regulations? Maybe so, some things are more lax than they once were.
Cheers, Prince Harry! Well Done!
Unfortunately Prince William is not blessed with same sort of good hair.
Harry looks a lot like his dad in that photo.
It makes it really easy to determine what is good, right, honorable, or decent. They crap on such in a heartbeat.
Man at left greater than man at right.
No doubt that he is Prince Charles' son in despite some silly rumors that he is not.
You would think that, with the several good hair-replacement technologies available today, a rich young man like William would avail himself of one of them. On the other hand, I guess that means William is not a particularly vain young man.
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