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The 23-year-old's time fighting the Taleban in the volatile Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan has dominated the British media since a prominent US website blew his cover on Thursday, forcing military brass to pull him out.

Britain's domestic Press Association news agency put out 11,548 words within an hour of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirming the Drudge Report story.

On Friday, there were 56 pages of coverage in eight national newspapers, with

headlines like "Harry the Brave" and "Harry the Secret Hero". The Sun tabloid published 11 pages, plus a poster of him on patrol.

All included photographs of the flame-haired prince: riding a motorbike in the desert, Steve McQueen-style; with his shirt off playing rugby; in combat fatigues on patrol; or behind a machine gun, firing at insurgent positions.

Harry and the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, have said the

blanket coverage could help better inform the public about Britain's mission in

Afghanistan - and also in Iraq, which remains unpopular here.

Dannatt's predecessor, General Sir Mike Jackson, told BBC television on Sunday the coverage was "not unhelpful" for recruitment, saying Harry had summed up the sense of comradeship and common purpose among serving soldiers.

But dissenting voices are beginning to be heard, not least about the British media's rare, but not unprecedented, agreement with the defence ministry to a news blackout until Harry's return.

The presenter of Britain's Channel 4 News, Jon Snow, in an e-mail previewing

Thursday's show, said: "One wonders whether viewers, readers and listeners will ever want to trust media bosses again.

"Or perhaps this was a courageous editorial decision to protect this fine young man?" he asked.

The British publicist Max Clifford told the Guardian on Saturday that the deployment was a "total, superficial PR exercise" aimed at casting Harry - who has a reputation as a wayward party animal - in a more positive light.

One columnist at the right-of-centre Mail on Sunday said the focus on Harry and criticism of foreign media for breaking a gentleman's agreement was "sheer propaganda" that "may make us feel 'our boys are winning' in Afghanistan.

"But this is not the truth at all," wrote Suzanne Moore."Instead of secret meetings between the MoD and TV and newspaper editors and the Palace, wouldn't this time have been better spent in working out what we are trying to do in this brutalised country, as no one is quite sure any more?"

Photo: AFP

Vocabulary

tour of duty, n: time spent in military service

coverage, n: reporting and broadcasting of news

propaganda, n: ideas or rumours that are spread with the intention to help or harm a

person

to dominate, v: to govern; to control; to rule over

prominent, adj: leading; important; well-known

tabloid, n: a newspaper that has a format of about half the size of a regular newspaper; newspaper that reports sensational news

fatigues, n: uniform of soldiers with multicoloured patches to hide the soldier

insurgent, n: person who fights with weapons against a government

blanket, adj: covering a large group or area

predecessor, n: person who had a position or did a job before the person now

Questions

1 Where did Prince Harry fight?

a.  Iraq

b.  England

c.  Falklands

d.  Afghanistan

2 Whom did he fight?

a.  Iraqis

b.  Taleban

c.  Iranians

d.  Afghans

3 What does MoD stand for?

a.  Money on Demand

b.  Ministry of Defence

c.  Master of Deception

d.  Member of Domination

4 What was Prince Harry previously known for?

a.  Enjoying wild parties

b.  Advocating gay rights

c.  Liberalising narcotic laws

d.  Being married to Princess Diana

5 What do the media think of Prince Harry now?

a.  nerd

b.  hero

c.  geek

d.  noob

Synonyms

Which of the following words or phrases replace the ones from the passage best?

1 amid

a.  rejecting

b.  out of fear

c.  surrounded by

d.  acknowledging

2 claim

a.  proof

b.  doubt

c.  necessity

d.  allegation

3 volatile

a.  safe

b.  charted

c.  explosive

d.  independent

4 blow

a.  ruin

b.  prolong

c.  increase

d.  strengthen

5 dissenting

a.  assertive

b.  approving

c.  opinionated

d. contradictory

KEY

Questions                   1 d, 2 b, 3 b, 4 a, 5 b

Synonyms                   1 c, 2 d, 3 c, 4 a, 5 d

By Ajarn Horst Baelz