Prince Harry's 'amazing experience' on charity trek

Britain's Prince Harry has called his charity Arctic trek an "amazing experience" despite delays due to bad weather.

The third in line to the throne returned home from his charity trek on Friday (08.04.11) although he had been due to return from the expedition - in which he joined four disabled soldiers to raise funds for Walking With the Wounded - a day earlier but an ice crack in the runway delayed his flight to the UK.

On his return the prince said: "What an amazing experience... a lot harder and colder than any of us realised.

"I'm very pleased to be back, but all the credit here goes to the lads who have weeks more of trekking to get to the North Pole. Their strength, motivation and stamina is out of this world."

The prince also wished the team luck in their attempt to be featured in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first disabled team to walk unassisted to the North Pole.

He said: "They deserve to get that World Record, more than anybody else, and I'll be watching them now every step of the way."

The beginning of the hike was also delayed when Harry and the soldiers were unable to leave their training base on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in time because of severe weather conditions.

However, the fun-loving royal reportedly made the most of his extra time there by going to the only two bars in the remote town of Longyearbyen.

A friend told MailOnline: "Harry loved the anonymity in the most northerly town in the world.

"He did his own shopping and, when his trek was delayed because of icy winds, he went out to the only two bars and treated the team to some Norwegian drinks and dancing."