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British RoyalsThe Sussexes

New book reveals near death for Prince Harry

A new book reveals that a Taliban rocket almost hit Prince Harry during his time in Afghanistan.

From an anti-tank platoon, Sergeant Tom Pal’s book Coldstream Guards – 10 Years in Afghanistan Guardsmen’s Stories, he divulges that a Taliban rocket hit the camp only metres from where the, at the time, third-in-line to throne sat.

When the incident occurred, Prince Harry was only 23-years-old. He was deployed to the forward base Dwyer, which is a desert outpost six miles from the front line.

A passage from Sergeant Pal’s, 37, book reads: “I remember one afternoon before evening scoff or a gurkha curry was on I was sitting chatting with both Captain Russell and Prince Harry about random stuff when the camp was hit by a Chinese 107mm rocket … whoosh, bang, wallop.

“We had been attacked and we just looked at each other and Captain Russell mentioned we’d better put our body armour and helmet on. Bit late, but we did.”

Along with Sergeant Pal’s stories, the book also calls the reveals the accounts of over 40 officers from the Coldstream Guards.

Talking to the Times, Sergeant Pal said the Taliban rocket hit a building around 60 metres from where they were chatting and Harry was “quite shocked”.

“That’s pretty close,” he added. “At that time of year where we were working, it was pretty mental. Various checkpoints were getting attacked every single day. It wasn’t anything new — the thing that was new was that you were sat next to a royal, chatting, random stuff. Then all of a sudden all hell breaks loose.”

He was also very surprised that Prince Harry would be deployed so close to a warzone.

“I’d seen him on pre-deployment training with the Gurkhas but didn’t think he would be out here and doing a pretty punchy job as a forward air controller,”

The book comes from an idea of former colour sergeant Paul Baines, all proceeds will benefit injured soldiers.