Unmissable, but was it inspired by a Prince's gaffe?

After 10 years following the Royal Family's every move, Nicholas Witchell must be yearning for a new post.

There's nothing new about royals in the forces, but them doing good works in uniform is – it's a win-win for their public image

Harry's presence in Afghanistan provided the Army with an extraordinary PR opportunity. James Shelley, director of news at the Ministry of Defence, tells Chris Green how he managed a delicate story

First: A radio clip of a schoolboy talking in the early 1960s. He wanted to go into politics and went to practise at Speakers' Corner; you may have heard him. His voice brought back a whole era. He had one of those "good chep" accents. Why did people speak like that? Even the disc jockeys in those days spoke like Henry "Blowers" Blofeld. All through the 1950s, the Queen sounded Chinese, so high and fine was her celestial voice. You had to compress what you could, as every detail of your vowel structure was scanned for clues to your pedigree, income, and education.

Tony Blair never tried to reconcile his new enthusiasm with the need to pay for it

Tousle-haired, in fatigues, with kitbag on his back and a mate at his shoulder, Prince Harry stepped back into Britain at RAF Brize Norton yesterday for an immediate reunion with his father and brother. He may be third in line to the throne, but, in keeping with the welcome brush with normal life the Army has given him, he was 41st in line off the plane.

Almost the only question not addressed in the several novels' worth of coverage of Prince Harry's tour of duty in Afghanistan is: should British troops be there at all? In a way, this is as it should be. Harry's desire to serve his country is entirely admirable, as even George Galloway, the anti-war Respect MP, conceded on the BBC's Question Time on Thursday. The justification for the British military presence in Afghanistan has no bearing on his wish to serve in the armed forces.

Afghanistan veteran, Leo Docherty, criticises the British military campaign in Helmand province, where the Prince served until his tour of duty was cut short after details of it were leaked on the internet

Prince Harry's spell of "normal life" has come to an abrupt end, with the Ministry of Defence confirming yesterday that he was being withdrawn from Afghanistan immediately. Defence staff and Army chiefs said they had little choice but to end his tour in Helmand early, after foreign media broke a news blackout and revealed that Harry had been serving in the province since before Christmas.

So it wasn't Matt Drudge after all who told the world, and the Taliban, that Prince Harry was fighting in Afghanistan. It was, bizarrely, an Australian weekly women's magazine.

What are we coming to? The British media have conspired to censor themselves; the Royal Family has secured a publicity coup; the Ministry of Defence has pulled off a public relations stunt that is a recruiting campaign for the armed forces – and this newspaper goes along with it all. Yes, the story of Prince Harry's 10-week tour of duty in Afghanistan is a curious one.

Prince Harry is to be withdrawn from Afghanistan after his security was compromised by international media, the Ministry of Defence confirmed today.