The Harry-ed Press

So, as it turns out, while the Drudge Report leaked the news that Prince Harry is serving in Afghanistan, the British press has known since December. In exchange for interviews with the Prince, it promised to keep mum, and has done so since the younger son of the Prince of Wales was deployed to the front lines. Because of his visibility, the British royal was deemed a “high value target” by the Ministry of Defence–hence the need for secrecy. Of course, he didn’t really have that much cover. Apart from his instantly recognizable face, he used the moniker Harry Wales. On the danger of serving, he said in one interview, “Once this film comes out, there’ll probably be every single person, every single person that supports them [the Taliban] will be trying to slot me [kill me]. … Now that you come to think about it, it’s quite worrying.”

Now, of course, all bets are off, stories are flowing freely, and Harry is coming home. Read more here in a Guardian article by Mark Sweeney and a piece in the Globe and Mail by Doug Saunders. Here’s a piece discussing whether the British press should have entered into that agreement with the government to keep the news about Harry’s deployment quiet.