Expert: Taliban Was Targeting Harry
The Taliban was aware that Britain's Prince Harry was on active army duty in Afghanistan and was looking to "take him out," according to a longtime royals watcher.
Robert Jobson, author and Royal Correspondent for the London Evening Standard said on The Early Show Monday that the Taliban learned of Harry's presence by late last year, and hoped to "take him out and have all the publicity that would go with that."
Harry, who returned to Britain over the weekend, had his assignment to Afghanistan cut short when word of his secret presence there leaked.
The prince, Jobson observed, is "a very young man. He was enjoying the military combat that he was out there doing. He's a bit disappointed (to have it end), but hey, he's in the army, and that's life."
Jobson says it's his "understanding is that (Harry) will not be going (back) on military frontline duties for probably between 12 and 18 months. And that's what he's been told by his commanding officer. I think it would be quite unlikely, it may be too risky to other soldiers if he's sent out again.To see photos of Harry on duty in Afghanistan, click here.
"This has worked -- the arrangement with the British media and other media organizations (to stay mum on Harry being in Afghanistan) -- for ten weeks, and ten weeks only. ... It's probably too risky to send Harry on frontline duty at the moment, and I think his commanding officers in Britain are saying exactly the same thing. But they are giving him hope (of returning to the frontlines), and they will review the situation between 12 and 18 months."
CBS News correspondent Richard Roth says Britain's military chiefs are downplaying expectations the experience will be repeated soon. The head of the army says another royal deployment would be "way off in the future."
Harry "says he wants to be a career soldier," Jobson points out. "I think, as a member of the royal family, he may well have to do other duties, get his head down, use the experience he's gained from being an army officer and get out there and sort of bat for Great Britain, PLC, if you like. That's his job as a member of the royal family, and maybe he'll knuckle down to it, not spend time in nightclubs!"
Queen Elizabeth herself was on board with Harry's deployment, Jobson pointed out, saying, "The queen is a very stoic figure. She's obviously a grandmother, and has emotional feelings for her grandsons like that, but she is the head of state. She's also the commander in chief of the British army. Therefore, she has advised her grandson quite clearly that, if he's in the army, and wants to be a career soldier, not a toy solider, he has to go on frontline duties. It was her who understands that. She's proud, but she'll obviously be aware of the 11,000 other British servicemen in both Iraq and Afghanistan whose families will be going through exactly the same things that she and Prince Charles did."
What about Harry's brother, Prince William? Will he be headed off to war, as well?
He's reportedly due to serve soon on a British warship, says Roth.
The British press is humming with speculation on William's military fate, and Jobson notes Harry "is the next in line to the throne after Prince Charles, so there's a different situation here. He, obviously, is an army officer, but at the moment, he's with the Royal Air Force, and then he's going to have an assignment with the Royal Navy. It's inevitable and essential that he does exactly the same as Prince Harry. If he's in the Royal Navy as an officer, he has to go on active duties, but there are different circumstances as a royal naval officer on frontline or combat duties from being a frontline foot soldier, as Harry was, and I believe William will go in active areas for the Royal Navy."
On Sunday, Harry gave his first interview since returning home and, reports Roth, Harry's "come back from the front transformed in the British press from the party prince to the humble hero."
Harry said, "It (being on active duty) was fantastic. It was an opportunity that I was wanting to do the whole time and, to be able to do it, I was hugely grateful for having the opportunity."
The secret tour of combat duty has made Harry eligible for a medal and a $10,000 a year pay hike that kicks in next month, when he'll have finished two years in the army, Roth says.
Harry says he now has a distaste for military field rations, but an appetite for battle: "I did enjoy it a little bit, more than, I suppose, I should, not in a sick way, but no, I enjoyed being out there, I suppose."
As for any future frontline service: "Hopefully, for my brother, as well, there' a possibility that it can work. We just have to wait and see for the future."