Nobel-hearted prince

Britain’s Prince Harry appealed for British and US veterans of the Afghan and Iraq conflicts not to be forgotten as he accepted a coveted humanitarian award from a Washington think-tank.

The very least we owe them is to make sure that they and their brave families have everything they need through their darkest days − and, in time, regain the hope and confidence to flourish again

Prince Harry, 27, received the Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council − “with great humility”, he said − in recognition of the foundation he oversees with his brother Prince William that helps rehabilitate wounded servicemen and women and reintegrate veterans into civilian life.

“They have paid a terrible price to keep us safe and free,” the prince, a British army captain who served in Afghanistan four years ago, told the black-tie gathering of Washington movers and shakers.

But with foreign forces withdrawing and media attention waning, he said, they were liable to be no longer in the minds of the public.

“The very least we owe them is to make sure that they and their brave families have everything they need through their darkest days − and, in time, regain the hope and confidence to flourish again,” he said.

“For these selfless people, it is after the guns have fallen silent, the din of battle quietened, that the real fight begins − a fight that may last for the rest of their natural lives.”

Prince Harry’s appearance at the gala fundraiser overshadowed the evening’s principal guest, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, whom the Atlantic Council saluted with its Distinguished International Leadership Award.

On the eve of a UN Security Council meeting on Syria, Mr Ban again condemned the brutality of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, but added that attacks by opposition groups have also escalated.

“We are in a race against time to prevent full-scale civil war − death on a potentially massive scale,” Mr Ban said. The UN already estimates that well over 9,000 people have died in the 14-month old uprising against Assad.

It was Prince Harry’s first-ever visit to the US capital. Earlier in the day, he mingled with 125 guests at the British embassy, many of them US and British military personnel who took part in the Warrior Games, a competitive event for war wounded, in Colorado last week.

He also planted a tree in honour of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s six decades on the throne.