These are excerpts from an interview of Prince Harry by The Times in December about his impending tour of Afghanistan.

What was your reaction when you heard you would be going?

"A bit of excitement, a bit of: 'Phew, finally get the chance to actually do the soldiering I wanted to do from ever since I joined'."
What will you be doing?

"It's still slightly unclear. Anyone who goes out to Afghanistan at the moment on operations at the moment is almost multi-tasking. "You've got one job that you go out there for but when you actually get out there you are being pulled left right and centre helping out people. "Essentially I'm going to be 'TACP' which is Tactical Air Control Party which is linked in with the RAF and fast jets and supply drops and all these bits and pieces I've still yet to find out all the details of what I'll actually be doing."
Is that like Air Traffic Control?

It is, there's a few courses that I've done and that other people do to get to this stage. And now in Afghanistan especially, because of the importance of 'air assets' in all senses of the word, FACs (Forward Air Control) and TACPs essentially do become air traffic controllers, which is a somewhat different role I never thought I would see myself doing in the army. "I have been trained for it, I haven't spent a day at Heathrow or anything like that but to the extent that the army can train you for air traffic controlling I have been trained for it. It's very different from what we first knew you were doing ...– reconnaissance work, 'eyes and ears'. "This job is ...… it's still linked in with the same thing and it's just on a bigger scale. Rather than being the troop leader you are who is sort of - not necessarily at the bottom of the pile but you are the eyes and ears in a different area ...– compared to where I will be at this point, I will be with the higher-up people, hopefully trying to advise them on how to use 'air' etc. But I'm sure they won't take my advice." (laughs)
What do your friends think of you going?

"Most of them don't actually know. It was a decision of mine and other people to basically keep it as quiet as possible for the obvious reasons, as last time it was slightly ruined but this time it seems as though it has all been good.
"Friends, very close friends, I have told the people that I feel would need to know but other people I don't really want to put in that position of saying 'right I'm going' and then they feel as though they've got to keep that deep down inside.

"People will be nervous, I think, for me, ...… em, I hope and it will be a bit of a shock or surprise when they find out that I am actually out there."

You have presumably told your grandmother?

"She actually told me. She told me I'm off to Afghanistan so that was the way it was supposed to be."

She knew before you?

"No, well, we've had a lots of talks about it since April, the last time it was supposed to happen, and she was very pro me going then.
"So I think she's relieved that I get the chance to do what I want to do."



Being in Windsor you must have seen quite a lot of her

"Yes. She's a very good person to talk to about it, her knowledge of the army is amazing for a grandmother ...– I suppose it's slightly her job."

Did she witness your frustration in May?

"She and everybody else did, there was a lot of frustration but as they say in the army: 'Turn to the right and carry on'."
Did you think of quitting?
"I wouldn't use the word 'quitting', it was a case of: 'I very much feel like if I'm going to cause this much chaos to a lot of people then maybe I should bow out' and not just for my own sake, for everyone else's sake.

"It was something that I thought about but at the same time I was very keen to make this happen ...– or hope for the opportunity to arise and luckily it has."

What stopped you bowing out?
"The possibility of this."
Sort of dangled as a carrot?
"Dangled as a carrot, also I really enjoy the army. Anyone who says they don't enjoy the army is mad ...– you can spend a week hating it and the next week it could be the best thing in the world and the best job you could ever, ever wish for. It has got so much to offer.

"It was a case of 'Yeah, well, I haven't, sort of, won the battle this time, for numerous reasons I can't go on operations, I understand that but I will hang around and hopefully they will use me at some point'."

During that, did you ever wish you weren't a prince?

"I wish that quite a lot actually.
"But yes, you know 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 chance for who we are.
"But in April last year . . . or the beginning of this year, it was very hard and I did think, well, clearly one of the main reasons that I'm not likely to be going was the fact of who I am.

"So yes, I did think at that time that I wasn't, but at the same time I'm very grateful for the job that I've got and the way that things are."
One of the reasons was not just the risk to yourself but also the risk to others.

"Of course it was hard, because my troop especially, the 11 guys who were essentially under my command, I sat down and had a chat with them all within about 20 minutes before it came out on Sky News and I tried to explain to them.
BBC Question: Sure it wasn't BBC News 24 first?

"I'm sure it was something like that, probably was actually. But before it got out in public I wanted to sit them down and say this is the story, this is what's happening, this is why, as much as I understood.

"And them being the soldiers that they are said: 'It's ridiculous, I would happily be under fire, be next to you as a troop leader' all this sort of stuff, as any troop leader or any officer or soldier would expect from another soldier ...– it's a sort of brotherhood."

A bond?

"Anyone in the army, from any different regiment, there's always a bond.
"They didn't seem to care that they might get more rounds fired at them because of sitting next to me.

"We had a bit of a laugh about it and they are all safely back, safe and sound, and didn't need me anyway ...– apparently it was pretty boring."

But Afghanistan won't be risk free?

"No, it won't be risk free but then I didn't join the army thinking that I was never going to go on operations.

"Nowadays especially, in the world that we live in, it has got to that situation where people join the army to almost go on operations and to serve their country, to help in the little way that they can.
"And if that is spending six months in the army and then your second six months in Afghanistan and then for the soldier to sign off after that, well I don't see any problem with that at all.

"They have served their country in the little way that they can.

"And now that soldiers go on operations for six months they get back and they think: 'well, I've done my bit, how much more can be asked of me? So without getting political...…"
You are going to be stuck in quite a remote place

"Well I think Afghanistan is a remote place in general, I've never actually been there, and no great holiday resort apparently.

"But I really look forward to going there. It is winter, which is a slight disappointment, it is just going to be a little bit cold, a bit snowy, but at least we might have a white Christmas."
What about Christmas at Sandringham? Are you going to have a body double?
"No, that was one of the main problems ...– when people actually suddenly realise that I'm actually out of the country."
Have you cracked it?

"You will have to wait and see. There is no body double."
Have you known people who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan?
"Mainly, well not mainly, but yes injured. William and I were down at Headley Court the other day just meeting all the people that actually don't get recognition, all the guys who lost their limbs in one way or another. ;"There is one, two, people that I knew of who died out there ...– they weren't, sort of, close to me but at the end of the day they wear the same uniform as you, they are brothers or close mates, so yes it does happen."

What could the public do to help injured soldiers?

"I don't really know what I'm allowed to say on that for political reasons, but the whole Help For Heroes charity that is being set up at the moment by numerous people just brings awareness of the other casualties that are slightly, sort of, skipped over from coming back from operations.

"There is a lot that happens that the British public don't know about. It's a shame to see stories about Afghanistan and Iraq being pushed back to page six or seven in the newspapers ...– they are our boys and they should be on the front page."

Do you think you will be itching to get out? Do you think you will be stick just doing your key job?

"No, I've already been warned off that once I get out there I could be pulled in all sorts of different directions as everybody is out there.

"I'm quite lucky for the fact that the course that I did a couple of months ago has enabled me to have a whole wide range of skills in the field and once I get out there, a few more ticks in the box from an operational side of things it means that I'm operationally ready in that environment - because things always change when the planes are up there and the jets.

"So I think I could be working in any sort of environment that I get told to, basically."

So that's your hope, that you won't just be doing the ordinary work?

"I know I won't be just doing that, I will be doing other things as well."

What is the attraction for you in the army? We all remember the picture of you aged eight . . . Is it in the DNA?

"Clearly not because my father was in the Navy.

"I don't know, it's the same with lots of people I guess, when they are a young child, a young boy, all they want to do is be a soldier and run around, boys with their toys.

"I thought I would try it because I loved it so much and when I actually did try it, it was actually a lot of fun, and once something is fun I suppose you stick around, don't you.

"I've made some amazing friends and been to some amazing places ...– and soon to be Afghanistan."

What have you found out about yourself? You have been described as 'an officer of determination'

"You've got to have that to get through somewhere like Sandhurst, you have to have a certain amount of determination and grit.

"You have bad days, you have good days; you have bad weeks, you have good weeks, it's a roller coaster ride, the army for a lot people, I can't speak for everybody.

"But it is just fantastic fun and I'm glad I'm doing it, I'm glad for all the decisions I've made so far."

Are you a born leader?

"Some people say I am, I wouldn't wish to comment myself . . . I enjoy it, I enjoy looking after people, not necessarily taking the reins and leading people but I enjoy guys coming up to me to ask me for my opinion or help or whatever in that sense of the word and getting on and getting the job done with a bunch of really good guys."

The issue of not being treated differently is important for you isn't it?

"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: will a helmet on, with a shemag (scarf) with goggles on, whatever.

"As far as anybody else is concerned they will just treat me as just a normal officer out there, hopefully."


Will that be very important for you?

"That will be massively important for me, it could be a turning point."

What do you hope to get out of it?

"It's not so much what I hope to get out of it, it's just a job that I've been doing for some time now but I've always been stopped from doing that extra bit which is the main bit that everyone works towards.

"You are training for months and months and months to work towards going on operations so that when you do get to that stage everything is really slick and nothing will supposedly go wrong so I'm just really looking forward to getting out there.

"I just want to put it into practice and do the job and get it done and essentially help everybody else that's in the army and do my bit."

You know there aren't any nightclubs?

"I know, I've heard."

Are you satisfied in yourself that you being there and you being a prince isn't going to put anyone else at risk?

"I don't think it's putting anybody at risk at all. I think going along with the plan at the moment, if I can get out there without anyone actually making it public, which is basically what's happening at the moment with the deal that's being made with numerous papers, things are looking up.

"From April, from the Iraq tour that nearly happened, for me it was ruined by the fact that it was made so public.

"There was information that other people got that suggested that not only was my life in danger but the people that I served with: me being there may up the ante ...– rather than two contacts a day it would be six or seven.

"And that was a risk that they weren't willing to take, which I completely accepted."

How did you feel about hearing that?

"At the time I accepted it. I would never want to put someone else's life in danger when they have to sit next to the bullet magnet, but if I'm wanted, if I'm needed, then I will serve my country as I signed up to do."

You must have known about this plan since almost May?

"Yes, basically it has been a long plan. My officer put me on the necessary courses to get me out there, to make me not a troop leader any more, so therefore not bringing direct fire or the possibility of direct fire to those people, but to help in a different area."

Knowing that, was that something which made it easier while your men were in Iraq?

"It was. I was getting reports back from Iraq and the guys saying that it really wasn't much fun and it was just boiling hot and they were just sitting around, not actually being able to do anything, they were saying: 'You're not missing out on anything, you're very lucky you're still back there'. "That and the thought that there was a very real chance of me getting to Afghanistan because out of the two that was the one place I wanted to go, more so than Iraq." The Times, 29/02/08.