Prince Harry on Kate Middleton's Pregnancy: "I'm Thrilled!"

USMagazine, Monday, January 21, 2013, 1:30pm (PST)

Prince Harry is ready to spoil his niece or nephew-to-be rotten! Speaking to reporters in a pre-taped series of interviews from Afghanistan, where he has been deployed with the Royal Air Force for four months, the royal, 28, finally got to share his thoughts on sister-in-law Kate Middleton's pregnancy.

"I'm thrilled for both of them," Prince William's little brother said. "It's about time. I can't wait to be an uncle." The red-haired royal wasn't quite so thrilled that Middleton, 31, and his brother, 30, had to announce their news earlier than expected -- thanks to Middleton's much-covered hospitalization due to acute morning sickness early on.

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"I think it was very unfair that they were forced to publicize it when they weren't ready, but that's just the media for you," Harry griped. "I literally am very very happy for them, but I hope she and him, mainly Catherine, hopefully gets the necessary protection to allow her as a mother, to be able to enjoy the privacy."

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Harry also revealed he "had a chat" with his brother and sister-in-law about the happy news. "I spoke to my brother and her -- both very well and very happy."

Before Harry's deployment, of course, all eyes were on the so-called "spare heir," and his shocking nude photo scandal that emerged after a wild late August weekend in Las Vegas.

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"I probably let myself down," he said. "I let my family down, I let other people down." Still, Harry says of the incident: "At the end of the day, I was in a private area and there should be a certain amount of privacy . . . The way I was treated by [the media] I don't think is acceptable."

Harry's tour of duty concluded on Monday, and he departed Afghanistan on Monday -- with a royal source telling Us Weekly exclusively that he's stopping for breather in Cyprus before returning to London later this week.

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Did the royal shoot at members of the Taliban during his time there? "Yeah, so lots of people have," he said. "Everyone's fired a certain amount . . . We fire when we have to, take a life to save a life, but essentially we're more of a deterrent than anything else."

"Our job out here is to make sure the guys are safe on the ground," he explained. "Now if that means shooting at someone who's shooting at them, then we'll do it. Take a life to save a life. That's what we revolve around, I suppose. If there's people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we'll take them out of the game. I suppose."

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Prince Harry on Kate Middleton's Pregnancy: "I'm Thrilled!"