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A deal between the Ministry of Defence and the British media enabled Prince Harry to serve ten weeks with his comrades in Afghanistan without the world knowing anything about it.

Until the Drudge Report, an American website best known for breaking the Monica Lewinsky scandal, broke the news internationally yesterday afternoon, the third in line to the throne must have thought that he would complete his three-month tour undetected.

He had been fortunate. An Australian magazine had first run the story early in January — but no one, least of all the Taleban, appears to have noticed. And the British media showed that, unusually, they could collectively keep a secret.

A face-to-face meeting between Prince Harry and senior MoD figures last June led to him embarking on his tour in Afghanistan. Deeply frustrated after plans to deploy him to Iraq last May were scrapped, Prince Harry visited the MoD in Whitehall to talk to General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, and other senior officers. He was considering leaving the Army after being told that specific intelligence indicated that his presence in Iraq would put both him and his men at risk from insurgents. He informed his bosses of his unhappiness.

The army top brass were desperate not to lose him and hatched the plan for retraining as a battlefield air controller with a view to him going to Afghanistan. It was enough to stop the Prince from quitting.

It mattered hugely to the ministry that they got their man on to the frontline. One senior figure said at the time: “If we got him in there for just a day and then had to bring him home it would have been worth it. It had to be done.”

But, before it could happen, the British press had to be part of the secret. In September General Dannatt held a series of meetings at the ministry with about 25 executives from each of the main newspapers and broadcasting organisations to explore whether a deal was possible. The men from the MoD asked whether a news blackout on the Prince’s potential deployment, and then the actual deployment when it happened, would be workable.

The papers and broadcasting representatives, some of whom were dubious whether a blackout could hold, argued that in return for their silence they would require access to Prince Harry before, during and after his tour so that the story could be told immediately the news of his deployment broke. Executives drew a parallel with the way that newspapers, at the request of the police, have kept quiet about kidnappings in return for being given the full story at the end.

The ministry kept its side of the bargain, as shown by the string of interviews broadcast yesterday with Prince Harry before he flew out on December 14 and while he was at the frontline. They were conducted by the Press Association’s chief reporter, John Bingham, on behalf of the whole press and were only released when the story emerged yesterday.

So secret was the whole affair that when Prince Harry went to Clarence House for his interview with the Press Association he wore civilian clothes. He changed into his uniform once inside. Nobody, not even royal staff, was to know.

Prince Harry spent several weeks working in Garmsir, in the far south of Helmand Province, 500 metres from frontline Taleban positions. He is now in another part of Helmand. His fellow soldiers were told to reveal nothing to their families.

The ministry and the press were astonished that the secret lasted for so long. The news has, in fact, been in the public domain for weeks. The Australian magazine New Idea first put it on its website on January 7. But it was picked up by Drudge only yesterday.

The magazine’s readers reacted with fury and said that it had put the Prince’s life on the line. Contributors to the New Idea website followed suit.

The German newspaper Berliner Kurier also published a short piece yesterday. Headlined “Prince Harry: Is He In A Warzone?”, the story asked whether the Prince had been “swallowed by the ground” in recent months.

It went on to quote an unnamed “Palace insider” suggesting that it was “quite conceivable” that he was serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Nobody from the Berliner Kurier was immediately available for comment.

Bob Satchwell, director of the Society of Editors, said last night: “Editors deserve General Dannatt’s praise. This was a big story which could have been broken at any time over the last eight months. They showed restraint simply so that Prince Harry and his colleagues in the warzone were not put in any extra danger. The MoD fulfilled their side of the understanding by arranging pooled access to the Prince and his unit. This was a model of how an organisation can work sensibly with the media by taking editors into their confidence and trusting their good sense.”

Mr Satchwell said that neither Buckingham Palace nor Clarence House had been involved in the deal. “It was very clear that this was an understanding about Prince Harry’s military duty in Afghanistan and not about any of his other behaviour,” he told Channel 4 News.

Putting lives at risk

“ It seems that a ‘hot’ news story is more important than the secrecy needed to protect lives. Shame on you!” jkearns_1

Nice one . . . let’s open our big gobs and turn him into the target he so obviously was NOT when no one knew he was out there!” goodevans67

Well done. You broke a world embargo on this & as a result it’s most likely that a young officer (who happens to be a royal) will now have to return from operations due to the increased risk to himself and fellow British soldiers. As a Aussie in the British Army I’m disgusted. Poor journalism.” rmpdavid

By your disgraceful actions you have endangered the life of this young man and the lives of British, Australian and Coalition soldiers. Next time that you hear about the death of a soldier in Afghanistan you may be responsible. You are vermin!” Post filed under the name Buggerall

Well done on breaking the embargo and putting the lives of every British soldier in Afghanistan at much greater risk. I hope you’re proud of yourselves, because everyone else thinks you’re scum.” Svs02

I agree, you’re irresponsible and putting lives at risk – idiots.” Anon

Nothing like a story to put his life at increased risk – and that of those around him.” Anon

Postings on the New Idea website

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