Prince Harry safe with Gurkhas

THERE is "no safer place" to be than in the presence of Gurkhas, Prince Harry told reporters after his return from a 10-week tour in Afghanistan.

For their part, Gurkhas praised the 23-year-old royal for his good manners while Harry described their goat-curries as "fantastic" following a stint at an operating base in the southern province of Helmand just 500 metres from Taliban positions.

"When you know you are with the Gurkhas I think there's no safer place to be, really," he said.

"They're all armed with kukris, so if they run out of ammunition they will charge you with their 'massive swords', as the enemy call them."

Prince Harry sits with a group of Gurkha soldiers after firing a machine gun from the observation post on JTAC Hill, close to FOB Delhi (forward operating base), in Helmand province Southern Afghanistan.