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’”.

Preparing to re-enact Shackleton’s epic on a replica of ‘James Caird’ next January

A pair of Royal Navy and Royal Marines adventurers has completed a summer of sea trials as they prepare to take an authentic replica of Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous lifeboat back to the icy wastes of the South Pole.

Royal Navy and Royal Marines adventurers complete a summer of sea trials with the replica of “James Caird”

 Expedition Gear

With only four months to go before the 'Shackleton Epic' adventure gets underway, a significant milestone has been reached and the expedition's naval element is eager to get going on the trip of a lifetime.

The 'Shackleton Epic' has been in development since 2008 when The Honourable Alexandra Shackleton, granddaughter of Sir Ernest, had the idea of an expedition to honour one of the greatest leadership and survival stories of all time.

Now, a crew of six British and Australian adventurers will attempt to become the first to authentically re-enact Sir Ernest Shackleton's treacherous boat voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia, followed by the difficult crossing of its mountainous interior.

To this day, no-one has successfully recreated Shackleton's complete 'double' journey across sea and land using traditional gear. British/Australian adventurer Tim Jarvis, a veteran of multiple polar expeditions, believes it will be the most challenging expedition of his life.

The only concessions to the use of period equipment will be the storage of modern emergency equipment and radios on board the 'Alexandra Shackleton', and the presence of a support vessel, TS Pelican, in the Southern Ocean.

Both modern emergency equipment and Pelican's assistance will only be used in the event that the 'Alexandra Shackleton' gets into serious trouble.

Petty Officer Seb Coulthard from the Lynx Wildcat Maritime Force and Warrant Officer Class 2 Barry Gray from 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group Royal Marines are at the end of a long summer trialling the 'Alexandra Shackleton', the replica of the 'James Caird' - Shackleton's lifeboat which stood him in good order on his epic rescue 100 years ago.

With the diligence of a master shipbuilder Petty Officer Coulthard has overseen his creation, and tested and adjusted it for the journey south. The boat has now been packed up and shipped off to Antarctica to await the expedition team's arrival early next year.

“We've made minor alterations and replaced some of the ballast,” said Petty Officer Coulthard. “It's remarkable that Shackleton got his stability calculations correct even though he was working on the edge of what was technically possible.

”We replaced some of the rigging, manila ropes and Flax canvas sails - they had worn through; it's all made of natural fibres and they wear very quickly.

“We've come from being a reasonably small expedition, 'six men in a boat with a website', into a global adventure with sponsors and backers - it's grown out of all recognition.”

Come January 2013, the team will be in Punta Arenas in Chile ahead of their attempt beginning around 17 January to emulate Shackleton's voyage across 800 nautical miles (1,480km) of the most challenging and treacherous seas on the planet - the Southern Ocean, sailing from Elephant Island to South Georgia aboard their replica boat.

On arrival at South Georgia three of the team will traverse its mountainous interior to reach the former whaling station at Stromness. The expedition will culminate in a pilgrimage to Shackleton's grave at Grytviken.

The skipper of the boat, professional offshore sailor Nick Bubb, had his doubts when he first set eyes on the 'Alexandra Shackleton': “It looked like a survival capsule, which is exactly what it is.

”As an adventure there can't be many that's been analysed to such an extent; this analysis has provided a lot of answers to questions as they come up.

“It's not just us doing what we think is the best thing; we're all the time looking back to see how Shackleton did it.”

The training and team building continues right up until they depart next year. Royal Marines Mountain Leader Barry Gray has arranged courses in Scotland, Wales and Switzerland so the team can get to know each other and work on their winter mountain skills ready for the crossing of South Georgia.

Brigadier Bill Dunham, Deputy Commandant General Royal Marines, was at the global launch of the expedition and chatted with the naval members of the team:

“I envy them the challenge,” he said. ”I don't necessarily envy them the reality of what they're about to attempt. This adventure will call upon courage, determination, unselfishness and cheerfulness in the face of adversity - all what we call in the Royal Marines 'The Commando Spirit'; values that other Service people can appreciate and translate.