An Australian magazine apologized for breaking a worldwide news blackout on Prince Harry serving in Afghanistan, saying it wasn't party to the agreement and wasn't ``alert to the possible ramifications.'' Harry, 23, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, was withdrawn early from the fight against the Taliban after a Jan. 7 story by New Idea magazine was picked up by the U.S.-based Drudge Report last month and broadcast globally. ``We did not knowingly breach any embargo and were not party to any agreement for a media blackout on the story,'' New Idea said in its issue published today. ``However, and more importantly, we do acknowledge that our actions in publishing the story can be reasonably viewed as insensitive and irresponsible.''
Harry, third in line to the throne, spent 10 weeks in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the center of the Taliban insurgency. He was the first member of the British royal family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew as a naval helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War with Argentina.
Harry trained as a battlefield air controller. His role in Afghanistan, where tours may be for as long as six months, included calling up air support to supply ground forces, surveillance work by planes and drones and guiding aircraft to their targets. He said he was surprised the news blackout held as long as it did. ``The system can work, I don't see why it can't work again,'' he told the British Broadcasting Corp. in an interview last week, saying he should be allowed to return to Afghanistan.
Blackout Broken
The Drudge Report's pick up of the story in New Idea prompted British media to break their blackout on the prince's presence in Afghanistan. ``We acknowledge and regret the distress and anxiety felt by readers over recent revelations in regard to Prince Harry and his service in Afghanistan,'' New Idea said. ``We regret this serious lapse in judgment.''
New Idea is a Sydney based women's magazine published weekly that had a circulation of almost 390,000 at the end of last year.