Prince William made a top secret 30-hour flying visit to Afghanistan last week, it has now emerged.

A Royal spokesman said, “He flew out as part of the air crew of a C-17 transport plane on Sunday morning, and landed in Kandahar where he spent about three hours on the ground being briefed on the operations of the RAF and the base there.”

The spokesman added that Prince William then flew in another military transport plane to a Royal Air Force base in Qatar where he spent around two hours being briefed, before flying back to Britain on Monday afternoon. “He’s been on attachment with the RAF for three months, and learning how the RAF operates across the different aspects of the service. The culmination of that was to see the RAF in theatre.”

The trip “passed without a hitch”, the spokesman said.

Kandahar Airfield is the main air hub for British forces in Afghanistan, making it a high-risk target for the Taliban. Later William took his plane on to the Al Udeid air base in Qatar, the stop-off point for most British troops sent into the war zone. After staying the night on the base, he flew back to Britain with his two co-pilots, arriving on Monday afternoon.

We won’t speculate whether William landed the giant transport plane in Kate Middleton’s paddock on the way.

That more or less concludes his highly successful attachment to the RAF, during which he won his Wings and piloted a variety of aircraft on a range of missions.

Next stop the Royal Navy, beginning in June.

In the past that question would inevitably be answered with, “Somewhere in Africa — not far from Chelsy Davy.”

Prince Harry with African children in Lesotho

Later, it became “On secret deployment somewhere dangerous.”

So where is he now? Well, last week he was “Somewhere in Africa, but not near Chelsy.” What a complicated life the young Prince leads.

It seems Harry was at a circus near Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, with 30 African street children. Reports say he had great fun watching clowns and various animals in the Brian Boswell Circus’s Big Top.

The trip was organized by his charity, Sentebale, and the show included a Chinese trapeze act — the Chinese are everywhere these days — and some poodles.

An observer said, “”Harry loved it all and was as wide-eyed as the little kids around him.”

Beats running after “Terry Taliban” any day.

What’s turning out to be the longest saga in the history of romance has the legs to go on and on.

According to reliable sources, Kate Middleton is now comfortably installed at Clarence House, even though she still keeps an apartment in London with her sister Pippa.

Word on the street is that Kate has put together a gymnasium and workout facility in the heart of the Queen Mum’s old residence.

A Royal aide has explained, “Kate has all her things there [Clarence House] and asked William and Harry if they would allow her to build a gym. She works out for at least an hour a day and loves to stay slim and toned. She and Pippa use the gym all the time because it has great equipment and it’s completely private. She has even had William and Harry doing crunches and press-ups.”

It must seem like home from home when the Princes return at weekends from Army training only to be frogmarched to the gym by Sergeant Major Middleton.

The question hanging in the air now — and romantic sagas always have plenty of those — is, will her superfit, wings-on-his-heels boyfriend invite her to the Lord Mayor’s Sporting Heroes Dinner at the Guildhall on Thursday?

A companion is included on the stiffie. I don’t think he’s going to take Mike Tindall, do you?

Flying in a Tornado fighter / bomber must be a daunting experience after piloting the immense carthorse of the skies, a Chinook helicopter.

Photo by an amateur from a mountain top with William circled

The Tornado GR4 specializes in low-level flying under the enemy radar. Pilots are trained in lonely spots like the Lake District in Cumbria and the Highlands of Scotland.

Yesterday Prince Willam was taken on an 80-minute sortie as part of his acclimatization course in the flying service.

An RAF source said, “We’ve taught the Prince basic flying skills, but this was showing him how we actually fight an aircraft. There were no diversions for any sightseeing. Prince William experienced first hand the combat teeth of the RAF. His flight gave him a clear understanding of the complexities and demands of flying the RAF’s fast jet aircraft on the frontline.”

We hear he tried to wave to Kate Middleton, but by the time he’d raised his arm he was in Scotland. [Joke -- I think]

Judging by the people I’ve spoken to about his exploits in recent weeks, William seems to have come out of it all very well. Most people admire him for his spirit and sense of adventure.

So some stuffy top brass went red in the face and harrumphed for England — no doubt for the benefit of the politicians. But I don’t think that was reflected lower down in the ranks of the RAF where the real work is done.

As a new Knight of the Garter he outranks any Air Marshal on all fronts.