Originally posted Thursday February 28, 2008 12:55 PM EST
The head of the British army has praised Prince Harry's work with the forces in Afghanistan as "exemplary."
The chief of general staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt said he is a "credit to the nation."
The general added, "He has been fully involved in operations and has run the same risks as everyone else in his Battlegroup. In common with all of his generation in the Army today, he is a credit to the nation.
"In deciding to deploy him to Afghanistan, it was my judgment that with an understanding with the media not to broadcast his whereabouts, the risk in doing was manageable."
Army bosses are now considering whether to call the young officer home to the U.K.
"Now that the story is in the public domain, the Chief of Defense Staff and I will take advice from the operational commanders about whether his deployment can continue," the statement added. "I now appeal to the media to restrain from attempting to report Prince Harry's every move and return to our understanding."
Disappointment that Story Went Public
He expressed his disappointment that the story has broken.In a statement released to PEOPLE, he added "I am very disappointed that foreign Web sites have decided to run this story without consulting us.
"This is in stark contrast to the highly responsible attitude that the whole of the U.K. print and broadcast media, along with a small number of overseas, who have entered into an understanding with us over the coverage of Prince Harry on operations.
"After a lengthy period of discussion between the MOD and the Editors of regional, national and international media, the Editors took the commendable attitude to restrain their coverage. I would like to thank them for that and I do appreciate that once the story was in the public domain, they had no choice but to follow suit."
