PRINCE William flew out from RAF Brize Norton to Afghanistan to meet frontline troops.
The Prince met service personnel at Kandahar airfield for three hours on Monday, before returning to the UK later that afternoon, it was confirmed last night.
The purpose of the trip was for the Prince to familiarise himself with RAF operations in a battle situation.
The Prince of Wales and the Queen gave their consent to the trip, Clarence House said.
During the exercise the Prince flew a C-17 Globemaster military transport plane which left RAF Brize Norton on Sunday, arriving in Afghanistan the next day.
He spent three hours chatting to personnel at Kandahar before flying on to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The whole trip lasted about 30 hours, the spokesman said.
Secrecy surrounded William's visit, which was classified as confidential.
The Prince's visit to Afghanistan comes after his brother Prince Harry served in Helmand Province for ten weeks.
Harry became the first member of the Royal Family to serve on the military front line in the stricken country.
His tour of duty was cut short after a media blackout broke down, and he flew back to RAF Brize Norton.
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