Prince Harry has returned to Britain after his secret deployment with the military in Afghanistan was disclosed in the media.

His father, Prince Charles, and older brother, Prince William, greeted him at an air base in Oxfordshire on Saturday.

"So it's obviously marvelous to see him back and I'm enormously proud of what he's done but I do so understand now what it's like for so many other families and the loved ones, you know, of those who are serving abroad on operations, what they have to endure."

Harry arrived at the base in a Royal Air Force troop carrier with about 170 other soldiers.

The 23-year-old prince, third in line to the throne, was withdrawn from his deployment after details were made public.

His work in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province involved calling in air strikes on Taliban positions, as well as foot patrols.