Prince Harry shot down Taliban fighters from a British army helicopter gunship in Afghanistan, he revealed after his latest 20-week tour of duty ended yesterday.
“Take a life to save a life,” Harry, third in line to the throne, said, recalling his missions over the war-ravaged Helmand Province.
Harry said he went on scores of missions in an Apache helicopter from Britain’s Camp Bastion.
Asked whether he had killed insurgents from the chopper, the Prince of Wales said, “Yeah, so lots of people have.”
“If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game,” he added. “As soon as we’re outside the fence, we’re in the thick of it.”
He shrugged off the dangers.
“Yes, you get shot at,” Harry said. “But if the guys who are doing the same job as us are being shot at on the ground, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us being shot at as well.”
“People back home will have issues with that — but we’re not special.”
Harry, 28, was interviewed three times while in Afghanistan but his comments were withheld until he was safely out of the war zone yesterday. The Taliban has repeatedly said it would love to target one of Queen Elizabeth’s grandsons.
The prince — known in the service simply as Captain Wales — supported allied troops fighting the Taliban and helped evacuate casualties. From the Apache’s two-man cockpit, he fired Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, rockets and a 30-millimeter gun.
“It’s a joy for me because I’m one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think I’m probably quite useful,” he joked.
He downplayed the military significance of his missions.
“We fire when we have to,” he said. “But, essentially, we’re more of a deterrent than anything else.”
Harry said his brother, Prince William, envies his ability to serve at the front lines. William, who serves as a Royal Air Force Search and Rescue pilot, is not allowed because he’s higher up in the line of succession.
“I think there’s a bit of jealousy,” Harry said. “Not just the fact that I get to fly this” — a $71 million Apache — “but, obviously, he’d love to be out here.”
“And, to be honest with you, I don’t see why he couldn’t,” he added. “No one knows who’s in the cockpit.”
Harry’s base was attacked on his birthday last September, but it was not clear whether he was the target.
He said living in a tent as just another British soldier and flying an attack chopper made it “easy to forget” his royal ties.
“My father’s always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that,” he said, referring to Prince Charles.
He also admitted feeling ashamed when photos of him frolicking nude at a Las Vegas party leaked last summer and ignited another royal scandal.
“I let myself and my family down,” Harry said.
“But,” he added, “at the end of the day, I was in a private area, and there should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect.”
“It was probably a classic case of me being probably too much army and not enough prince,” Harry said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Harry, whose mother was Princess Diana, acknowledged his mistrust of the media.
“I think it’s fairly obvious how far back it goes. It’s when I was very small,” he said.
Harry served as a combat soldier on the front line in Helmand for 10 weeks between 2007 and 2008, becoming the first British royal to be engaged in combat since his uncle Prince Andrew flew helicopters during the 1982 Falklands War.
However, his first assignment was cut short after media leaked news of his presence. This time, the media were allowed to say he was on active duty in Afghanistan but forbidden from giving details.