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.

Updated 16.30 29 February

The British Ministry of Defence has just announced that Prince Harry is to be withdrawn from Afghanistan immediately, after his cover was blown yesterday by an influential website.

Prince Harry on foot patrol in Afghanistan

Reaction around the world has been very favourable to Harry’s deployment, in which he managed to serve for 10 of his 12 week term.

In an online poll on Sky News Australia, 78 percent said it was wrong for the Australiam women’s magazine, New Idea (locally known as No Idea) to have leaked Prince Harry’s deployment back in early January. New Idea’s website was flooded with readers expressing horror and calling for the resignation of its editor.

Readers called its journalists “guttersnipes”, “money-hungry idiots”, “morons” and “selfish parasites”, and that they were an embarrassment to Australians living abroad. Australians are nothing if not forthright in expressing their views.

Perhaps this now puts the current silence of Prince William and Kate Middleton into some sort of perspective. Royal Anecdotes believes both Kate and Chelsy have agreed not to be seen out partying while Harry is fighting in Afghanistan where 89 British soldiers have died in recent months.

One newspaper comments, “The Prince dismissed fears that he is a ‘bullet magnet’, swore he does not miss ‘anything’ [about his life in the UK], and said he believed his mother was proud of him. He made no reference to girlfriend Chelsy Davy.”

This could be to protect her from association with him. In an interview last week, Harry conceded that on his return to the UK, he could be a “top target” for homegrown jihadists sympathetic to the Taliban. “Once this comes out, every single person that supports them will be trying to slot me,” he said.

I don’t wish to stir this up, but maybe Chelsy should be given some protection too.

Update: The British Commander in Afghanistan has just said that Prince Harry flourished in the difficult environment of the country and served with distinction. I wonder if that means a “mention in dispatches” or even a Distinguished Service Medal?

The Press Association has reported that Prince Harry has been serving on the front line in Afghanistan for 10 weeks. The news was leaked by The Drudge Report and reluctantly confirmed by the Ministry of Defence.

It seems likely that Harry will be recalled, as he will now become the one and only target of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

The PA report states :

Prince Harry has been fighting the Taliban on the front line in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

The 23-year-old Household Cavalry officer has spent the past 10 weeks secretly serving in war-ravaged Helmand Province.

The deployment had been cloaked in secrecy under a news blackout deal agreed across the UK media to prevent details reaching the Taliban and endangering Harry and his comrades.

But the arrangement has broken down after news was leaked out on the US website the Drudge Report.

As part of the deal a group of journalists had visited the Prince in Helmand on condition that details would only be publicised once he was safely back in the UK.

The deal was arranged after Harry’s planned tour to Iraq last year had to be cancelled because of a security risk sparked by publicity.

After the disappointment over Iraq, when Harry was due to work as a Scimitar light tank troop leader, he retrained as a battlefield air controller known as a JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) with a view to going to Afghanistan.

He flew out on December 14, two months into the current winter tour.

He spent several weeks working in Garmsir in the far south of Helmand Province, operating just 500m from front line Taliban positions. He has since left Garmsir to work in another part of Helmand Province, details of which can not be reported for security reasons.

There is no immediate steer from the Ministry of Defence on the future of his deployment.

Let us hope they move him to a place of safety. After 10 weeks, he deserves his medal.

Update: ITN’s Political Editor is suggesting that Harry’s deployment is now over. Everyone is amazed they managed to keep it quiet this long. He was due to stay until April, but will return home a hero having fought on the front line and controlled aircraft movements over various battlefields.

ITN has lengthy interviews with him on the ground. He seems fit, happy and glad to be there. The Queen and Prince Charles have said how proud they are of him, and Prince William has written to him saying how proud their mother would be at this moment.

With British troops taking heavy casualties in Afghanistan, it seems Prince Harry’s chances of getting there even in a training capacity are diminishing by the day.

Prince Harry in battle mode

The plan to send him in with the East Anglian regiment, which has lost over a dozen men recently, have been put on hold. A final decision over whether he can serve in Afghanistan will not be taken for some weeks, according to insiders.

Some say that despite the fierce fighting in Helmand Province a range of options still remain open for him, including sending Harry to work at the NATO headquarters in the capital Kabul, which remains relatively safe.

He could also be given a job at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand which is located in remote desert, and has so far not come under direct attack. However, once the Taliban get word he’s there, that could change dramatically.

It looks now as if Harry is destined for a very minor role in the Army, with him quitting after his initial three-year commission.