London - Britain's Prince Harry has been fighting Taliban forces on the frontline in Afghanistan for the past 10 weeks after a long and controversial debate in Britain over whether the 23-year-old should do active service in a conflict zone. Harry, 23, the younger son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, was stopped from fighting in Iraq last year on security grounds.
A lengthy public debate on the deployment prompted the appearance of T-shirt among insurgency groups in Iraq displaying Harry's head as a target.
The Sandhurst-trained prince, who serves in the Household Cavalry, always insisted that he wanted to "fight with his men."
On Thursday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in London confirmed that Harry had been fighting in Afghanistan's Helmand province for the past 10 weeks.
The news was leaked on the US website Drudge Report, after the British media had adhered to an agreement with the royal palace that the deployment of the prince should be kept secret.
The head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said he was disappointed that the news had come out.
"I am very disappointed that foreign websites have decided to run the story without consulting us," he said.
The move was in "stark contrast to the highly responsible attitude" displayed by the British media, said the general.
Harry, who has a reputation as a "party prince," was understood to have threatened to leave the army if he was not allowed to go on active service.
He is the first senior member of the royal family to serve in a conflict since Prince Andrew, his uncle, fought as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands in 1982.
Harry, third in line to the throne, was told by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, that the decision had been taken for him to serve in Afghanistan.
The queen had always been supportive of his wish, the prince said in an interview Thursday.
He believed the fighting experience in Afghanistan would change his life. "I finally get the chance to do the soldiering that I want to do," the prince said.
In an interview in the restive southern Afghan province of Helmand, Harry talked about life as a soldier on the frontline.
"I haven't really had a shower for four days, I haven't washed my clothes for a week.
"It's very nice to be sort of a normal person for once, I think it's about as normal as I'm going to get.
"I am still a little bit conscious of the fact that if I show my face too much in and around the area - luckily there's no civilians around here because it's ... a no-man's land.
"But I think that if, up north, when I do go up there, if I do go on patrols in amongst the locals, I'll still be very wary about the fact that I do need to keep my face slightly covered just on the off- chance that I do get recognized, which will put other guys in danger.
The fear that Harry might prove to be a "bullet magnet" - or that his deployment might place his comrades in additional danger, returned Thursday with confirmation of his deployment.
The MoD said no decision had been made on whether it was safe for Prince Harry to remain in Afghanistan, where he was meant to complete a four-month tour.
"The operational chain of command is now looking at a variety of options," said a spokesman.
