FACTBOX: Key facts on Britain's Prince Harry

(Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry, who is third in line to the British throne, has been serving with the army in Afghanistan for 2-1/2 months, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.

The prince is the first member of the royal family to see action since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew helicopters in the Falklands War in 1982.

Here are a few details on the life of Prince Harry:

* Harry was born Henry Charles Albert David Windsor on September 15, 1984. The prince is the younger son of heir to the throne Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana and became third in line to the throne.

* At school he was only an average pupil getting a 'B' in Art and a 'D' in Geography in his school-leaving A-level exams despite being educated at one of Britain's most prestigious schools, Eton, and receiving hours of private tuition.

* He is a good sportsman and distinguished himself in Eton's cadet corps, a traditional springboard to the army.

WILD CHILD:

* Royal watchers believe Harry suffered more than his brother William from Diana's death in a car crash in 1997. That may have prompted him to dabble with soft drugs five years later.

* The prince, dubbed by the media a royal "wild child" and playboy prince, worked in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho with young AIDS victims. He launched his own charity in April 2006 in memory of his late mother to help children orphaned by AIDS in Lesotho.

OUTRAGE:

* The prince sparked international outrage when in early 2005 he wore a Nazi uniform to a costume party two weeks before Queen Elizabeth led Holocaust memorial ceremonies. He later said it had been a "very stupid thing" to do.

ARMY LIFE:

* Prince Harry arrived at the prestigious and tough Sandhurst military academy in May 2005 to begin his army career with a warning from his superiors that he would be treated like any other cadet.

* Harry graduated as an army officer in April 2006 at Sandhurst before joining the elite Household Cavalry, which meant he could be sent to conflict zones in Iraq or Afghanistan.

* Harry was due to deploy to Iraq in 2007 but the plan was scrapped after specific threats by insurgents to kidnap him.