Prince Harry back in Alta., spends time with locals

Britain's Prince Harry sits atop a military vehicle in the Helmand province, Southern Afghanistan on Monday, February 18, 2008. (AP / John Stillwell)

Prince Harry is back in southern Alberta, local sources said Thursday, six months after he was pulled out of Afghanistan following a leaked media report.

The 23-year-old prince, who is a second lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment, hung out at a Medicine Hat, Alta., pub on Tuesday with a few dozen army pals.

Ralph Steiert, then owner of the popular Ralph's Texas Bar and Steak House, told CTV.ca Thursday that he spoke with the prince for about 30 minutes that night.

"He's actually a really down-to-earth kid . . . it was just like talking to one of your buddies," he said.

Steiert declined to say what he talked to Harry about, saying that he wanted to respect the prince's privacy.

He said that because it was a Tuesday night, it was a bit slower and Harry was able to avoid drawing a big crowd of onlookers. He said Harry spent about three to four hours there.

"They did not want to be recognized . . . so we respected that," Steiert said. "My staff, I was pretty proud of them, they all respected him, no one phoned all their buddies to come over and look at him."

"We gave him his space and hopefully he'll come back."

Last year Harry trained at Suffield, a nearby Canadian Forces Base where the British military has a training unit.

While the prince caused a media furor at the time because of a raucous night out at a Calgary nightclub, Ralph's employee Jocelyn Symborski told CTV.ca that this week's night out was pretty low profile.

"He was with a bunch of people from Suffield," Symborski said, noting that his army buddies tried to cover for the prince by referring to him as "Dave."

"But they said it all suspicious and with big smirks on their faces," she said of the alias.

During his time in Afghanistan, Harry called in air strikes on Taliban positions and was "fully involved in operations," according to a British military statement released in February.

But when a news leak divulged the whereabouts of the prince, who is third in line to British throne, officials pulled him out of duty.

Melanie Villeneuve, a representative from the Department of National Defence, wouldn't confirm the Prince's return to Canada, citing "security reasons."

Last year, the prince hung out at Calgary's Cowboys nightclub, where he reportedly spent time with bartender Cherie Cymbalisty.

Cymbalisty later sold her story to a British tabloid for $30,000, and the prince was blasted in the media after a paper published photos of Harry being kissed by two women.