8 Apr 2011

Prince Harry stranded on Arctic ice cap

4:21 pm on 8 April 2011

Prince Harry has been left stranded in the Arctic three weeks before he is due at Westminster Abbey as best man at his brother William's wedding.

The 26-year-old is stuck on an ice cap battling temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius after his flight home was delayed when a crack formed in the ice on the runway, the ABC reports.

Prince Harry has been trekking across the North Pole with disabled British soldiers in aid of his charity Walking With The Wounded and was due back in England on Thursday.

Buckingham Palace says Harry is now expected back in London at the weekend.

It was considered a feat of engineering to build a runway on what is effectively a piece of floating ice.

Russian engineers are now working to repair the one-metre crack in the landing strip, but they may still decide to find a new location for the runway.

Prince William is to marry Kate Middleton in London on 29 April.