Prince Harry Fighting in Afghanistan - Drudge Report Blows His Cover (Photos, Video)

Posted on: February 28th, 2008 by: Meg

Prince Harry, number three in line to the British throne, has been entrenched with the U.K. Army in Afghanistan since December, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defense. He has been fighting the Taliban for the past two months. According to Chief of the General Staff, Richard Dannatt, Harry has been fully involved in operations and has received no special treatment.

The royal prince, age 23, is the grandson of Queen Elizabeth, son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. The lieutenant has been in the British Army since 2005. His regiment went to Iraq last year and he was denied the opportunity to serve with his men. Apparently that decision has been reversed, or was a diversionary tactic to ensure Harry’s safety on the battlefield.

The Drudge Report broke the news internationally on the heels of German newspaper Bild. A women’s magazine, New Idea actually wrote about the situation in January. They deny intentionally breaching a news blackout and the story went virtually unnoticed until this week.

Prince Harry has spent the last 10 weeks in the dangerous Helmand province, having arrived on Christmas Eve. It is possible that his orders will be rescinded and he will be removed from the front lines, based upon the leak that has blown a carefully guarded secret.

“In deciding to deploy him to Afghanistan, it was my judgment that with an understanding with the media not to broadcast his whereabouts, the risk in doing (so) was manageable,” Dannatt said. “Now that the story is in the public domain, the chief of staff and I will take advice from the operational commanders about whether his deployment can continue.”

World news reports on Friday morning indicate that Prince Harry is being removed from combat because the safety of his men has now been compromised.

We’ve got more photos of Prince Harry and a video after the jump.