Prince Harry's military mission to Lesotho

More details have emerged today of Harry's planned training exercise to Lesotho. Last month it was reported that the Prince had organized the mission to Lesotho. In fact the Blues & Royals regiment had been planning to send soldiers returned from war to various African countries over the summer as a means of personal development and team building. Harry learned of the trip after returning from Afghanistan and suggested Lesotho be among the countries he and others in the troop will go to. Although a more senior officer will be leading the expedition Harry spent 2 days in Lesotho on a recce (reconnaissance) of the area to plan the troops agenda. The troop will spend three weeks in Lesotho and will aid with the building of public care facilities and repair infrastructure.

Said a palace source, "The Household Cavalry were already planning an adventure expedition in Southern Africa for the troops who had been Afghanistan. When Harry found out about this he immediately suggested going to Lesotho. Although he is not leading the expedition he knows the lie of the land there and the difference it could potentially make to people's lives. The regiment needed to train somewhere and as the army always tries to involve a charitable aspect to these trips if they can, it was the perfect solution."

There being no British bases in Lesotho the project has been, quite literally, drawn up from scratch. This has lead to suggestions that Harry, who's charity Sentebale is based in Lesotho, is getting special treatment. The usual tax funding arguments aside, with the fallout from Peter and Autumn Phillips having sold Hello! exclusive coverage of their wedding still smarting another possible bone of contention lies in the fact that the trip to Africa is benefiting from corporate sponsorship. The company Land Rover has agreed to sponsor the mission and will be providing the soldiers with off-road vehicles to negotiate the mountainous terrain. Military insiders have denied that any of this is special treatment and pointed out that it is common practice for the Army to accept sponsorship to cover costs of such training exercises.

Although the Ministry of Defense would not comment on the individual movements of personnel a military source said, "The Army routinely offers its troops the chance take part in adventure training exercises are a key part of military life and are funded from both public and non-public sources and can include commercial sponsorship. For example, several soldiers recently took part in an expedition to Everest, which was sponsored by a leading mobile phone company. Many of the Army's vehicles are provided by Land Rover, so it's a natural link-up.

"Lieutenant Wales is treated the same as any other member of the armed forces. This is a good military exercise and people would be wrong to criticize it. He played no part in setting up the deal with Land Rover whatsoever. In fact, that was done when he was out in Afghanistan. It's perfectly normal practice. Harry isn't treated any differently. It's a great opportunity for his regiment and an even greater opportunity for the charity. It's a very positive opportunity all round."

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker agrees saying, "The charity is a very good cause. Doubtless all soldiers in the Army are treated equally so it really is very fortunate indeed that this particular assignment has come Prince Harry's way."

Recently returned to his regular duties at his barracks in Windsor, Harry himself is said to be very excited not only to return to Africa but also to once more enjoy working and living outside of Britain having enjoyed the "normalcy" of his deployment to Afghanistan. Said a friend of the prince, "Harry's really excited. He's itching to get out of Britain and be back with the boys again. His regiment have to train somewhere and this way they do some real good at the same time. Getting the sponsorship from Land Rover clinched it."

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