Prince Harry reaches South Pole on Walking with the Wounded expedition

Prince plans to celebrate 200-mile trek with a few whiskies and says he is proud of his team of injured service personnel

Prince Harry was planning “a few whiskies” at the bottom of the world on Friday night to celebrate reaching the South Pole with 13 injured service personnel following a gruelling three-week trek.

The 29-year-old royal proclaimed “mission success” as the Walking With The Wounded charity expedition reached their polar destination on the eve of the anniversary of Norwegian Roald Amundsen first planting his flag on 14 December 1911.

So tough were the conditions faced by the expedition that the competitive element, which would have seen a UK team race against a US team and a Commonwealth team, was abandoned.

Instead, the 200-mile Antarctic trek saw a group effort by the service personnel, who pulled 11st (70kg) sleds, or pulks, and who had all suffered life-changing injuries in conflict.

Speaking 20 minutes after reaching the pole with the team – made up of 12 men and one woman – Harry, an army pilot who has served two tours in Afghanistan, said it was an “amazing feeling”.

“Every single one of these 12 deserves it. I mean, they have dug out blind to get here.” Harry added: “Duncan, you know, it’s just remarkable the fact that someone with no legs has made it here, and to have done it in record-breaking time, no doubt”. It is understood this is a reference to UK teammate Sgt Duncan Slater, 34, from Muir of Ord, who lost both legs in Afghanistan in 2009 when his vehicle was blown up by an improvised explosive device.

He continued: “And Ivan, as well. When I look across I see him being guided around, you know, totally blind, from America, and absolutely hates the cold. And you know he’s not doing it for himself, he’s doing it for his buddies back home, and that goes for everybody, every single one here”.

Their achievement, said the newly bearded royal, “will just prove to everybody there is so much that can be made possible when you think that nothing is left”.

“But I am so proud. I’m so chuffed and I’m so privileged to be here with all these guys and girls. I think we’ll be having a few whiskies tonight and then everyone’s looking forward to getting home. Mission success.”

The three other wounded service personnel in the British team are Maj Kate Philp, 34, from Worcestershire, who lost her left leg after a bomb blast in 2008; Capt Guy Disney, 31, from Oxford, who lost his right leg in a rocket attack in 2009; and Capt Ibrar Ali, 36, from York, who lost his right arm in a roadside bomb in 2007.

Ed Parker, the expedition’s director and co-founder of the Walking With The Wounded charity that organised the challenge, said: “We always knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but that is what makes the challenge so exciting.

“Our aim was to show that, despite injury, young men and women from our armed forces …read more