Prince Harry cheated death in rocket attack

PRINCE Harry was almost KILLED just days before he was pulled out of Afghanistan, we can reveal.

The young royal had to dive for cover as a ROCKET exploded just 50 METRES from him.

Shrapnel from the 170mm missile whistled narrowly over the heads of Harry and his patrol.

A senior military source said last night: "He was lucky-the strike was well within shrapnel range of where he was.

"It was a bit hairy and it certainly got the blood pumping.

"But the prince's thoughts were typically with his men and after the attack ended he called in a Chinook helicopter to evacuate any wounded.

"Then he went straight back out on patrol."

Fortunately Harry and his men all escaped unscathed in the drama which happened during operations outside Musa Qala in Helmand Province in February.

Harry, 23, spent 10 weeks serving in the country's danger zone and was pulled out amid concerns for his safety after a news blackout deal over his tour of duty was broken by foreign media.

There had been fears the prince could be specifically targeted if the Taliban knew of his precise whereabouts. Details of Harry's narrow escape are contained in a new biography on the prince which reveals the adventurous boyhood that led him into the forces.

Palace staff used to call him the "little Rottweiler" because of his furious antics when he didn't get his own way.

He once managed to crash one of the Queen's Land Rovers when he was just SEVEN.

A bodyguard had let him sit on his knee and steer the 4x4-but when told it was time to go home Harry put his foot on the accelerator and ran it into a stone wall.

The future soldier prince also showed early on that barrack room language would be no problem for him.

At school aged just six he was frogmarched to the head for saying he could see the piano teacher's "willy".

Diana was called in but burst out laughing when the head told her of his "crime".

Harry's rotund royal nanny Jessie Barnes had a novel way of dealing with the prince when he was out of control.

She would pin him to the wall with her belly and keep him there for up to ten minutes until he calmed down and apologised.

Harry's War: The True Story of the Soldier Prince by Robert Jobson. Published by John Blake on June 16, priced £7.99. To order your copy call 020 7381 0666.