Prince Harry, third in line to British throne,has been serving on the front line in Afghanistan with the British Army, the Ministry of Defense confirmed on Thursday.

Harry, 23, has been in Afghanistan in the Helmand Province since December. Officials say the prince is still deployed in the country.

I finally get the chance to do the soldiering that I want to do, the prince said before he left, according to BBC UK.

The Ministry of Defense said his three-month deployment had been kept secret because of a agreement with news organizations, but the details can now be made public after the news leaked out in publications in Europe, Australia and in the US.

Defense officials confirmed that Harry was still in Afghanistan and released a range of photographs of the Prince. This marks the first combat deployment of a royal since his uncle Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, served as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands in 1982.

His conduct on operations in Afghanistan has been exemplary, said General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff.

He has been fully involved in operations and has run the same risks as everyone else in his battle group.

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