Britain's Prince Harry has been serving on the front line in Afghanistan with the British Army, according to an announcement Thursday by Britain's Ministry of Defense. On Jan. 2 he was on duty with a 50mm machine gun at an observation post close to Forward Operating Base Delhi.

London ? The secret is out: Prince Harry has been serving on the front line with his British army unit in one of Afghan-istan’s most lawless and barren provinces.

Harry is the first royal to serve in a combat zone since his uncle Prince Andrew flew helicopters during Britain’s war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982.

British officials had hoped to keep the 23-year-old’s deployment secret until he had safely returned, but they released video of Harry serving in Helmand Province after a leak appeared on the U.S. Web site the Drudge Report.

The planned deployment had been disclosed to reporters, with no specific date, but was not reported previously under a pool agreement between the Ministry of Defense and all major news organizations operating in Britain, including The Associated Press. The news blackout was intended to reduce the risk to the prince and his regiment.

“I got here on Christmas Eve. And going from bullet magnet to anti-bullet magnet, most of the guys were pretty bummed that I was here because nothing was happening for the first few days that I was here. But things are picking up again now because it’s obviously quite boring when nothing is happening,” Harry said in one video.

Although he is still in Afghanistan, military chiefs are angry over the leak and are considering if he should be moved. Tours to Afghanistan usually last six months, but Harry has served just 10 weeks.

“I will take advice from the operational commanders about whether his deployment can continue,” said the army’s commander, Gen. Richard Dannatt.

Harry, the third in line to the British throne, was supposed to go to Iraq with the Blues and Royals regiment last May but the assignment was scrapped at the last minute because of security fears. Iraqi insurgents made threats on Internet chat rooms, saying he would not make it home alive.

Putting aside his usual life of privilege, the prince spoke of going without showers for days, eating corned beef and hash and drinking nonalcoholic drinks. He noted he had also escaped the relentless paparazzi in London.

Harry trained at Sandhurst military academy and joined the Blues and Royals as a cornet, the cavalry regiment’s equivalent of a second lieutenant. After being held back from his Iraq assignment, the prince threatened to quit the army if he wasn’t given the chance to see combat.

He said the news of his Afghan assignment was delivered by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

“She told me I’m off to Afghanistan so that was the way it was supposed to be,” he said in an interview in Afghanistan, his hair coated with dust and his face in stubble.

“She was very ‘pro’ me going then, so I think she’s relieved that I get the chance to do what I want to do,” he added. He said he tries to phone home once a week.

Harry said his older brother, William, who also graduated from Sandhurst and is training as a military pilot, is jealous of his deployment. As second in line for the throne, William is unlikely to ever see combat.