Prince Harry and his comrades who served in Afghanistan this winter today received their campaign medals and paraded through the streets of Windsor.

The 23-year-old Prince, known as Lieutenant Wales, was among around 160 members of the Household Cavalry to receive the decoration this morning from the hands of his aunt, the Princess Royal.

The young officer smiled broadly and went red as Princess Anne pinned the medal to his chest and chatted briefly with him, as she made the presentations in her capacity as Colonel of the Blues and Royals, the section of the Household Cavalry of which Harry is a member.

His father and brother, Prince Charles and Prince William, and his girlfriend Chelsy Davy were in the audience at Combermere Barracks to watch the ceremony.

Afterwards, the troops paraded through the streets to Windsor’s Garrison church, led by the band of the Blues and Royals, for a service in which British forces killed during the unit's recent six-month tour of duty to Helmand Province were remembered.

The event was lent added poignancy by the death on Friday of a member of Household Cavalry, Trooper Ratu Babakobau, 29, from Fiji, who was killed by a mine strike in Nowzad, northern Helmand. The regiment has a large Fijian component several of whom served alongside Harry in Afghanistan earlier this year.

The Prince and his brother William paid tribute to Trooper Babakobau at the weekend.

Harry secretly flew to Helmand Province in mid-December to work as a Forward Air Controller, having retrained after his earlier planned tour of duty to Iraq was cancelled because of the security risk generated by publicity.

But the intended four-month deployment was cut short after 10 weeks when a news blackout broke down at the end of February.

He today received the Afghanistan Medal, having served well over the minimum four-week period required. It will be the second medal he is entitled to wear on regimental occasions, alongside the Golden Jubilee Medal, a gift from the Queen marking her 50-year reign in 2002.

He is the first member of the Royal Family to see active service in a theatre of war since his uncle Prince Andrew flew helicopters in the Falklands War 26 years ago.

During his time in Helmand he patrolled on foot 500m from Taliban lines, called in air strikes on enemy positions and commanded two Spartan light tank crews providing flank protection during an operation involving Afghan and US forces.

The Operational Service Medal (OSM) for Afghanistan is round and silver showing Harry’s grandmother the Queen on one side and the Union Flag and compass on the reverse.

The ribbon has a red stripe down the centre with royal blue and light blue stripes on either side - to represent the three armed services - and a light brown line at each edge to reflect the desert landscape of Afghanistan.

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