The Prince attended a ‘welcome home’ press call for the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Challenge in London yesterday, looking fresh-faced after shaving off the famous ginger beard he grew while in Antarctica.
The Walking With The Wounded challenge finished on December 13 when three teams of wounded servicemen and women – some of whom are double amputees – successfully reached the South Pole after skiing across 200km of Antarctic plateau.
British actor Dominic West, who was part of the Commonwealth team helping to raise money for military charities, divulged stories of the young royal’s antics while in Antarctica.
West described Harry as a “fantastically nice chap” who has a wicked sense of humour: “He told some eye-wateringly rude jokes which, for a non-soldier like me, was pretty shocking!”
West also divulged details of the group’s celebratory antics when they finally reached the South Pole.
“Two of the Aussie guys stripped naked and ran round the pole but most of us, Harry included, just went on a two-day bender with the Icelandic truck drivers who had brought some lethal home brew with them. There was a lot of liqueur drunk,” West said.
“We all drank champagne out of Duncan’s (Slater, a double amputee injured in Afghanistan in 2009, who was on the British team) favourite prosthetic legs.”
Trek pals: Prince Harry and Dominic West in Antarctica. Image: Getty.
West added that despite his royal status, Prince Harry was not above performing some of the more mundane group tasks.
“He would often reach the meeting point before the rest of his men and would build these incredibly lavish, castellated latrines, with battlements and loo roll holders,” West revealed.
“It must have taken him 40 minutes at least to build, they were just fabulous. I would often sit on the latrine thinking “this is a royal flush in every way!”
“Harry also massively helped me out when I was struggling with my skis at first. He was a great guy.”
Prince Harry, who is fourth-in-line to the throne, was a patron of the expedition, and spoke of his pride at his fellow trekkers.
“Inspiring others is one of the cornerstones of this charity,” the prince said yesterday. “To demonstrate to those who have suffered life-changing injuries that anything is still possible.
“That this truly unbelievable achievement by everyone behind me… will remind everybody that they can achieve anything they want to. Our wounded, injured and sick [servicemen] they simply want to be treated the same way as before they were injured. With respect.”
