Prince Harry to return home today

Britain’s Prince Harry’s will return home today (07.04.11) after completing a shorter Arctic trek than planned because of severe weather conditions.

The third in line to the throne was due to depart from the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen on Sunday (03.04.11) along with four disabled soldiers but takeoff was postponed until the following day because of severe weather conditions.

Eventually the team arrived at the Borneo Ice Airfield about 200 miles from the North Pole in the early hours of Tuesday (05.04.11) to embark on the expedition, which aims to raise £2 million for the Walking With The Wounded charity, of which he is a patron.

However, the prince – who must return to continue his military training – said although his time on the trek has been shortened because of the delays he had still found the challenge “remarkable”.

He told the BBC: “The miles may have to be minimised only by a little bit, but it’s not going to make a difference to what these guys are doing.

“It’s truly inspirational and truly remarkable, so let’s keep the support going.”

Edward Parker, who is one of Walking With The Wounded’s founders and is also taking part in the trek, recorded an online audio message, where he explained that although the men only had four hours sleep in their tents they were “raring to go” and enjoying the stunning scenery.

He said: “The sheer beauty of the place that we ended up being put down in is so difficult to describe white everywhere but thousands of different colours, the sun was in the sky and it was incredibly uplifting for all of us.”

The team have also been lucky to find temperatures higher than expected for the Arctic at -20C, with the wind chill factor taking it down to -30C.

Edward said: “We were fine from a temperature point of view.”

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