Sun journalist, UK military staff charged

The Sun newspaper's royal correspondent has been charged for allegedly paying military academy staff for stories about Princes William and Harry.

British prosecutors have charged The Sun tabloid's royal editor and two former staff at the military academy where Princes William and Harry trained over the sale of stories for thousands of pounds.

Journalist Duncan Larcombe, 37, was charged with conspiracy to conduct misconduct in a public office, along with John Hardy, 43, a former colour sergeant at the elite Sandhurst military training academy, and Hardy's wife Claire, 39.

The Hardys are accused of accepting more than STG23,000 ($A34,400) from The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling newspaper which is owned by Australian-born media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, for stories about Sandhurst and the royal family, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Tracy Bell, a 34-year-old former assistant at Sandhurst's medical centre, will also be charged with misconduct in a public office over allegations that The Sun paid her STG1250 for stories between 2005 and 2006, the CPS said.

"It is alleged that from 10 February 2006 to 15 October 2008, 34 payments were made to either John Hardy or Claire Hardy totalling over 23,000 for stories relating mainly to the royal family or matters at Sandhurst," the CPS said.

"In addition we have concluded that Tracy Bell should be charged with one count of misconduct in public office."

Police later confirmed that all four had been charged after returning on bail to various police stations on Wednesday following their earlier arrests.

A fifth person, a 32-year-old man, will face no further action, police said.

Prince William, a Royal Air Force search and rescue helicopter pilot, trained at Sandhurst in southern England from January to December 2006, while his younger brother Harry was there from May 2005 until April 2006.

Harry, an Apache helicopter gunner, has served twice in Afghanistan.

All four of those charged will appear at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 8, the CPS said.

They have been charged as part of Operation Elveden, a Scotland Yard investigation set up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at The Sun's sister newspaper, the News of the World.

Murdoch was forced to shut down the News of the World after it illegally accessed the voicemail messages of a murdered schoolgirl, as well as hundreds of celebrities and public figures.

British Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor, is among those who have been charged in connection with the scandal, as is former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks.

Earlier on Wednesday, a former police officer became the 62nd person arrested under Operation Elveden.

Prince Harry in South Pole race in support of wounded servicemen

Britain’s Prince Harry will take part in a race to the South Pole with a team of wounded British servicemen and women it was announced over the weekend. The 28-year-old will take on teams from the United States and the Commonwealth in the 335km Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge in November and December this year.

Prince Harry said at a press conference in London during which the teams were announced: “So, it just remains for me to say to Soldier On Canada, Soldiers To Summits from the US and Soldier On Australia - welcome to the party. As a member of the British team, I will have a brew ready for you when you join us at the Pole”.

Harry, who took part in the charity’s trek to the North Pole in 2011, is already patron of the Antarctica expedition but on making the announcement he confirmed he will be taking part with Team Glenfiddich for the whole race.

He missed out on a bid to conquer Mount Everest with the group last year because of his military commitments and he withdrew early from the successful North Pole expedition to attend his brother’s wedding.

He said of the South Pole race: “The format may be different. The scale is certainly different. But the aim remains the same - to enable our wounded to do what they and all other servicemen and women do better than anyone else I know - meet a challenge head-on and overcome it and inspire others to do the same.

“Ladies and gentlemen, these men and women have given their all in the cause of freedom, in our cause.

“That they should once again step into the breach - this time facing down the extreme physical and mental challenges of trekking to the South Pole - just underlines their remarkable qualities.”

Harry, who is known as Captain Wales in the Army, added: “So, what are these qualities? They are courage, to be sure; physical strength; endurance, a sense of comradeship, absolutely.

“But there’s something else, something deeper than that. Something that continues to draw me back to this charity and these people time and again - and always will. It’s toughness of mind. An unquenchable spirit that simply refuses to say, ‘I am beaten’”.

Heir-razing threat: British-born Muslims ready to target Prince Harry

After attacking the base where Prince Harry was stationed in Afghanistan last week, the Taliban announced that he is still in danger. This time from fellow UK citizens trained as turncoat fanatics ready to kill him

­Taliban Spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Daily Star in an interview “We have thousands of attackers ready to give up their lives for the Prophet Mohammed and kill the prince. That is our intention. They come from all over the world – from England, Pakistan.”

“They will lay down their lives so that the world will know our anger. The British and American invaders are not welcome in this land and must leave,” he said.

That the Taliban has been luring foreign nationals to train with them in Afghanistan is no secret; several Taliban combatants have been captured of European, British, and American origin.

This is, however, the first direct insinuation that homegrown UK citizens could be used in a turn-around suicide mission against the prince.

Prince Harry survived a Taliban attack on Camp Bastion on September 14, where he is currently serving a four-month tour of duty. Although failing to kill the prince, the Taliban claimed a moral victory, killing two marines and destroying or damaging eight US fighter jets. The attack cost the base a stunning US$200 million in damage. It was also the start of a new Taliban campaign called “Harry Operations” that would specifically target the prince.

“We attacked that base because Prince Harry was also on it, and so they can know our anger,” Ahmadi told the Associated Press after the attack.

“Thousands more suicide attackers are ready to give up their lives for the sake of the prophet.”

Insurgents with Premier League football tattoos have already been found by British soldiers, and British surveillance has already picked up Yorkshire and Midland accents on Taliban radio frequencies, The Daily Star reported.

However, after the September 14 attack, NATO and the British Defense Ministry were quick to dispel any notion that the prince could actually have been killed.

"Prince Harry was never in any danger,” said NATO spokesman Martyn Crighton following the attack. Camp Bastion is one of the most heavily fortified bases in the world, and the prince was 2 kilometers from the attack site.

Prince Harry flies an Apache helicopter, working on support missions. Britain has not lost any of its 67 Apaches in Afghanistan, and the Defense Ministry has claimed that the risk to the prince is “low.”

Taliban threaten to kill Prince Harry

The Taliban said today it was determined to kill Britain's Prince Harry, serving in Afghanistan four years after his previous deployment was cut short over security concerns.

A militia spokesman said the group had a "high-value plan" to attack the third in line to the British throne in southern province Helmand, one of the toughest battlefields in the 10-year war.

"We will do our best to kill Prince Harry and Britain's other troops based in Helmand," the spokesman, who gave his name as Zabihullah Mujahid, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"It is not important for us to kidnap him. We will target him and we will kill him," he added.

The 27-year-old Apache helicopter pilot, who hit the headlines last month after he was photographed naked at a party in Las Vegas, will spend four months based at the heavily fortified Camp Bastion in Helmand.

"Whoever fights in our country is our enemy and we will do everything possible to kill him," said Mujahid.

Britain says Harry's squadron "will provide surveillance, deterrence and, when required, close combat attack capabilities as well as escort duties for other aircraft."

In 2008, the royal was hastily withdrawn from Afghanistan when a news blackout surrounding his deployment, on the ground directing aircraft in attacks on Taliban positions, was broken. This time, however, the military has released photographs and video of him in Afghanistan from the start.

The Ministry of Defense said any risk "has been, and will continue to be, assessed."