The royal defended his controversial public admission that he has killed Taliban fighters after touching down at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

He said it was part of a job "you would expect to do" after he was criticised by security experts for his remarks. The 28-year-old prince, an Apache helicopter co-pilot gunner, said: "I think for the thousands of guys that are on operations at the moment, we are continuing, essentially, to try and do a job. A job for ourselves, a job for the guys left and right of us, and from my point of view, especially for the guys on the ground."

Picture: John Stillwell/PA