Britain's Prince Harry has "always wanted to be a Gurkha".

Prince Harry

Prince Harry

The 30-year-old royal - who is set to quit the army at the end of the month after ten years of service - praised the work of the elite soldiers at celebrations marking two hundred years of Gurkha service with the British Armed Forces and confessed he's disappointed he never got to experience working with them.

Speaking to the founder of the Born Free Foundation, Virginia McKenna - whose husband Bill Travers was in the 9th Gurkhas - he shared: "I always wanted to be a Gurkha, but the opportunity never arose.

"Physically, I bow down to these guys. They are incredible."

The flame-haired royal was also reunited with Sergeant Dipprasad Pun, with whom he served in Afghanistan in 2007, and congratulated him on being awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for single-handedly defeating up to 30 Taliban fighters who attempted to storm his control post in Helmand in 2010.

According to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Pun said of the occasion: "This is a great way to show the younger generation what the Gurkhas have done."

Also in attendance at the bicentenary of Gurkha service celebration, which was held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, was the Queen, her husband the Duke of Edinburgh and her son and Harry's father, Prince Charles.

The Prince of Wales - who is patron of the Gurkha Welfare Trust - said it was right to "recognise and celebrate these remarkable men and their extraordinary service to our country."

Tagged in