Run-up to Christmas spent on high alert

PRINCE Harry was one of around 9,000 troops who celebrated Christmas in Afghanistan and did so with the help of Cuban cigars sent by his father, the Prince of Wales.

In the run up to Christmas, the royal was on “very high readiness” duty, waiting in a tent close to his Apache helicopter ready to be airborne within seconds of a call for air support.

Harry’s four-man flight would usually work three consecutive overnight duties before moving onto other shifts on the aircrew rota, so the VHR tent served as temporary sleeping quarters for the down-time between “shouts”. 

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“We watched a repeat of the Royal Variety Performance, which was quite entertaining,” he said, wearing a Santa hat with pigtails after an overnight duty which included a mission over Helmand Province.

“This time of year, when we started we’d be called out once, maybe twice at the most, but now it’s cold it’s fairly quiet. Less stuff happens at night.”

While most of his fellow soldiers were sent a homemade cake or a jar of Marmite in their Christmas food parcels from home, Harry was sent a jar of Clarence House Garden honey and a box of Cuban cigars by Prince Charles that he used to trade for other treats with American colleagues.