After a three-week charity trek with injured military veterans from Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia, Prince Harry became the first member of Britain's royal family to reach the South Pole on Friday, the Agence France-Presse reported.
Harry and 12 servicemen and women reached the globe's most southerly point following a 200-mile (320-kilometre) journey across the frozen wastes of Antarctica, organizers Walking With The Wounded said.
Initially conceived as a race, the expedition was later abandoned due to concerns about the safety of the participants, some of whom lost limbs fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, AFP reported. The teams decided to continue their trek, however, dragging 70-kilogramme sleds through the bitter cold and high winds.
The 29-year-old prince who serves as an army helicopter pilot, joked earlier this week about the expected arrival date of Friday 13th, which he said was "unlucky for some, lucky for us."
"The wind has dropped down, which is nice," the fourth-in-line to the throne said. "I think everyone is feeling a bit tired but slowly getting into the rhythm. Only just got into the rhythm now and it has almost finished."
Organized by Walking With The Wounded, a charity which raises funds to retrain injured troops and help them find new careers outside the military, the trek had temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees Celsius (minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit) and wind speeds of around 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour, AFP reported.
Harry joined the charity for part of a trek to the North Pole in 2011, but had to come home early to be best man at his brother Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton. While Queen Elizabeth II's grandson is the first royal to reach the South Pole, Britain's monarchy has a number of links to the frozen continent, according to AFP.
The queen's husband, Prince Philip, crossed the Antarctic Circle in 1957 on board the now-retired royal yacht Britannia while visiting a memorial cross to polar explorer Ernest Shackleton on the remote Atlantic island of South Georgia.
A huge chunk of Antarctica was named after the Queen as a gift from the British government to mark her diamond jubilee in 2012.
