Afghanistan Just Got Harry

Prince Harry has been serving on the front line in Afghanistan with the British Army, calling in airstrikes on Taliban positions and going out on foot patrols. Not a bad way to get out of the house.

Officials said the prince, a lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment, was still deployed in the country. Harry is third in line to the throne and has been in Afghanistan since December.

The planned deployment had been disclosed to reporters, with no specific date, and was not reported previously under a pool agreement between the Ministry of Defense and all major news organizations operating in Britain. The news blackout was intended to reduce the risk to the prince and his regiment. The news embargo was broken, however, after reports of the prince's deployment were leaked by an Australian magazine and a German newspaper, and then reported on a U.S. Web site, the Drudge Report.

Harry, 23, has been deployed in the restive Helmand province for 10 weeks, where most of the 7,800 British troops in Afghanistan are based, according to the military's statement. In a recorded interview, Harry said he was happy to be standing shoulder-to- shoulder with his colleagues.

"It's nice just to be here with all the guys and just mucking in as one of the lads," said Harry, who had expressed bitter disappointment when he was banned from going to Iraq with his battalion last year. Army chiefs said publicity surrounding his deployment could put him and his unit at risk. Harry graduated from Sandhurst military academy in 2006 and trained as a tank commander. After the decision not to send him to Iraq, he retrained as a battlefield air controller, the job he has been filling in Afghanistan.

UPDATE: Adios, Harry. Guess the royal family didn't like that news leak. Enjoy your return to civilian life.