ONE CROWN DOWN

Prince Harry is to be pulled out of Afghanistan amid fears for his safety.

The 23-year-old Household Cavalry officer, who has been fighting the Taliban in Helmand Province for the past 10 weeks, is set to be flown home to the UK.

The move, which will be a bitter blow to the Prince, follows the breakdown of a news blackout deal agreed across the UK media after foreign websites leaked details of his deployment.

The final decision on whether to extract him was taken today by the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup after discussions with the head of the Army, Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt.

Intelligence picked up a series of specific threats to Harry and his comrades in Iraq after details of his planned deployment were announced and received widespread publicity.

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said: "Following a detailed assessment of the risks by the operational chain of command, the decision has been taken by Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, Chief of Defence Staff, in consultation with General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, to withdraw Prince Harry from Afghanistan immediately.

"This decision has been taken primarily on the basis that the worldwide media coverage of Prince Harry in Afghanistan could impact on the security of those who are deployed there, as well as the risks to him as an individual soldier."

The MoD statement added: "The decision by elements of the foreign media to report Prince Harry's presence in Afghanistan without any consultation with the Ministry of Defence is regrettable.

Prince Harry has been secretly fighting the Taliban for 10 weeks and has told how he is relishing life in the Afghan danger zone.

Harry, 23, speaking during a lull in fighting, said: "It's nice to be here with the guys and mucking in. All my wishes have come true."

He hoped he had been a credit to his mum Diana, adding: "Hopefully she'll be proud. She'll be looking down."

Harry, third in line to the throne, was sent to Helmand province on December 14. He has been in firefights against the hardline Islamic fanatics. The British position there comes under missile, mortar and machine gun fire on an average of five times a day.

UK and international newspapers and TV channels agreed to keep Harry's Afghan role a secret so as not to endanger him unnecessarily. But the news was leaked on the US-based Drudge Report website.

Harry has told how the Queen broke the news he was going to the front line - to his relief and delight.

He originally trained as a tank commander and was scheduled to be sent to Iraq on reconnaissance duties.

But in May that plan was scrapped for fear Harry would be targeted by insurgents. The prince was bitterly disappointed.

But he secretly retrained as a Forward Air Controller.

Gordon Brown yesterday said Britain was proud of the prince's "outstanding service."

Finally, we have a prince with a purpose. After fears over his serving in Iraq, Harry's been given the chance to prove himself. His mother would have been proud of him - and so should we.

He is described as a "magnificent soldier", it was ludicrous to keep him confined to barracks while others served their country.

His disappointment was manifested in those boozing sessions and pub scandals.

But these past 10 weeks will be the making of Harry.

That he's earned the respect of his comrades and also earned ours.

Not many members of the royal family can claim to be "one of us".

Now Harry can.

Speaking in December before he left for Helmand province, he told how disappointed was when he could not go to Iraq for security reasons.

"I wish that quite a lot actually. At the beginning of this year (2007), 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'."

The prince is known as Second Lieutenant Wales, his duties as a Forward Air Controller, involve hours watching surveillance footage beamed from aircraft flying over enemy positions or small unmanned drones. The information is sent to a laptop, nicknamed Kill TV.

On New Year's Eve Harry used it to oversee his first bomb strike. He gave two US F15 jets the all clear and they dropped two 500lb charges on to a Taliban bunker system. A third exploded moments later as enemy fighters fled.

The strike came at the end of a 3 day aerial surveillance operation spearheaded by the prince from a fortified position at Forward Operating Base Delhi.

It is the the southern-most allied outpost in Helmand - little more than 500 metres from the Taliban positions and overlooking no-man's-land. Taliban fighters had been identified over the previous two days, moving between the bunkers and digging trenches.

They were spotted by surveillance craft flying too high for them to detect.

Harry, sitting at his screen, was able to watch the figures live on his Kill TV screen and ensure they were fighters and not civilians.

Harry's target was a fortification system codenamed Purple, which sat 150 metres behind the Taliban front line.

Once ready, the pilots signalled "In Hot" to Harry. He then gave them the final go-ahead with the words "Cleared Hot". In an interview, Harry had earlier told how the secret observation of the Taliban was the key to winning the battle against them.