Prince Charles has said he is "enormously proud" of Harry for serving in the front line in Afghanistan.

The Prince of Wales spoke of his relief at seeing his youngest son back from Helmand Province "in one piece".

He added we should not forget the unsung sacrifice of Prince Harry's comrades.

Prince Charles said: "It is obviously marvellous to see him back and I am enormously proud of what he has done.

"As you can imagine it's obviously a great relief as far as I'm concerned to see him home in one piece."

"It is much worse in a way, I think, for those left behind. We owe an enormous amount to all those families of our servicemen."

In the interview at RAF Brize Norton, Prince Charles revealed three soldiers who had been badly wounded by mines were on the same Tristar plane as Harry.

The Ministry of Defence said two of the injured soldiers had been taken off the flight at Birmingham while the third continued to Brize Norton.

Prince Charles said: "It brings home just how hazardous it is and the number of people being injured and wounded all the time that we don't hear about."

He admitted it had been hard keeping Harry's frontline deployment a secret, saying he has been telling people his son has been away "on exercises" for the past ten weeks.

"It has been quite difficult, as you can imagine, having to keep quiet about the fact that he is serving in that part of the world."

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