Prince Harry of nude photo fame deployed to Afghanistan
Britain’s Prince Harry gives the thumbs up upon his arrival at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, on September 7, 2012. Britain’s Prince Harry is back in Afghanistan to serve as a military helicopter pilot four years after his previous deployment there had to be cut short, the Ministry of Defence said on Friday.
Party time is over for Prince Harry, who has been sent to Afghanistan for four months of active duty, BBC News reported, citing the Ministry of Defense.
The third in line to the throne got in big trouble recently after nude photos of him surfaced after a wild night in Vegas (hang on, it "was not like an orgy going on,” protested fellow party-goer Carrie Reichert, who reportedly had a “fumble” with drunken Harry that night).
Well, whatever it was, the prince's birthday next week (he'll turn 28) will presumably not be celebrated in any such manner. He is set to take part in anti-Taliban missions flying a two-man Apache helicopter pilot and arrived Thursday at Britain's Camp Bastion camp in Helmand, according to the BBC.
More from GlobalPost: After nude pictures, Prince Harry emerges — fully clothed — for Paralympics, charity event
The Queen Mother, who was reportedly incensed by the photo affair, can rest easy — strictly uniformed photos in future. Which raises the question: is the playboy prince being "taught a lesson" by way of the Afghanistan assignment?
Apparently not, because in April, Harry himself made comments along the lines of it being dumb to have all the helicopter pilot training and then not actually do it, said BBC.
This video shows him in helicopter training in Arizona, where he recently graduated as a "Top Gun," according to The Telegraph (and "where he first acquired his taste for partying in Las Vegas," the paper smirked):
"I'd just be taking up a spare place for somebody else if they didn't have me going out on the job, " the prince explained at the time, according to BBC.
He will join a unit with the highest "kill rate" in Afghanistan, averaging two believed Taliban militants killed every week, said the Telegraph. Helmand is one of Afghanistan's most violent provinces, with 17 people found beheaded in the region recently.
The Palace today was quick to praise their danger-defying prince, with father Charles saying he is "immensely proud of his son," reported CBS News. The 27-year-old is the first member of the Royal Family to serve in active combat since the Falklands war, according to BBC.
This time around, the Royal Family is being very up front about the prince's role in Afghanistan after having to pull him out early when the press outed his secret 2007 mission there. The ministry said circumstances this time are very different, according to The Telegraph.
Citing royal source, the paper said the prince, referred to as Captain Wales in the military, was full of "pride and anticipation" to return to Afghanistan four and a half years later.