Harry, 23, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth and third in line to the throne, was sent to Afghanistan in December, but the British media maintained a blackout on reporting the deployment under an agreement with the Ministry of Defence. That agreement collapsed on Thursday after websites in Australia, Germany and the United States leaked the news.

“Following a detailed assessment of the risks by the operational chain of command, the decision has been taken... to withdraw Prince Harry from Afghanistan immediately,” the ministry said in a statement.

Harry, the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, has been active during his 10 weeks of combat, calling in air strikes against Taliban positions, carrying out foot patrols and firing a heavy-duty machine gun at suspected fighters.

It is the first time a British royal has been deployed in combat since the Falklands war 25 years ago, when Harry’s uncle Prince Andrew flew helicopters.

But now that knowledge of Harry’s role is widely known, there are concerns he could become a target of the Taliban, al-Qaeda or other Islamist militants.