Prince Harry: Wild child turned war hero

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - For Prince Harry it was the perfect image makeover.

One minute, the third in line to the throne was pilloried as a playboy prince who clashed with paparazzi outside nightclubs and wore a Nazi uniform at a costume party.

The next minute, the flame-haired 23-year-old is the soldier hero, hailed for his 10 weeks on the frontline fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, the Queen's grandson may have bemoaned media intrusion.

But back home, the same tabloids who had berated him -- and agreed to maintain a news blackout about his presence in Afghanistan until foreign media broke the embargo -- were fulsome in praise of "Harry The Secret Hero."

"When Harry met Tali," trumpeted the Daily Star tabloid as the prince headed home, his tour of duty cut short amid security fears about his safety and that of the soldiers serving with him.

For royal palace minders ever mindful of the prince's once tarnished image, this was priceless publicity.

The prince had gained a reputation as a "wild child" by dabbling in marijuana and under-age drinking as a 17-year-old.