Harry 'was allowed to leave army base after it was locked down for random drugs test'
7 January 2023, 08:23 | Updated: 7 January 2023, 08:40
Prince Harry was allowed to leave an army base after it was put into lockdown for a random drug test.
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Armed guards swept on RAF Wattisham in Suffolk in May 2011 for the surprise checks but the now-Duke of Sussex was allowed to go on "urgent palace business".
He left for London in his Audi as his fellow soldiers handed in urine samples, The Sun said.
Harry is believed to be the only one who did not take a test.
It comes as the prince admitted to taking cocaine and using cannabis as a teenager but there is no suggestion he had taken drugs in this incident.
He also said he used mushrooms after leaving the forces in 2015 and smoked weed after his first date with Meghan.
Read more: Prince Harry admits taking cocaine as a teenager 'to feel different'
His former squadron Sergeant Major Mark Wilson said: "I couldn’t believe Harry was allowed to leave.
“He had just returned from a period of leave, from being off celebrating Prince William's wedding.
"If you miss a test because you are not on camp normally you have to book a test ASAP at the next location you are going to."
A high-ranking army source said it would have looked "very strange" but said fellow troops wouldn't be aware of "the diary pressures on the third in line to the throne".
At the time, Harry was in 656 Squadron, 4 Regiment Army Air Corps.
Harry's recollection of killing 25 members of the Taliban has unusually led to both veterans and the militant group condemning his comments.
Veterans said revealing that kind of information is not how things are done, with Colonel Tim Collins – famed for the speech he gave to troops on the eve of the invasion of Iraq – accusing him of turning against his "other family, the military".
But it also drew contempt from the Taliban after he compared their killings to taking chess pieces.
Anas Haqqani, the interior minister in Afghanistan who is linked to the notorious Haqqani network, said on Twitter: "Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return.
"Among the killers of Afghans, not many have your decency to reveal their conscience and confess to their war crimes."
