PRINCE Harry and his Army regiment are being deployed to Iraq in the spring, the Ministry of Defence confirmed today.
The 22-year-old, who is third in line to the throne, is to become the first royal to be deployed on a tour of duty in a war zone for a quarter of a century. His uncle, the Duke of York, was the same age as the prince when he flew helicopters in the F
alklands conflict in 1982.
Army officer Harry will join his regiment, the Blues and Royal, in southern Iraq as part of a long-planned rotation of troops. The length of their stay was not given but it would be expected to be about six months.
Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, confirmed the deployment this morning in a written statement to MPs.
Specifically, two squadrons from the Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR), of which Harry is part, will be deployed. The lead formation, currently 19 Light Brigade, will be replaced by 1 Mechanised Brigade, which the HCR will support. The rotation of troops will take place in May and June, the ministry said.
The news comes a day after Prime Minister Tony Blair outlined the first step in a phased withdrawal of British forces from the country with the return of some 1,600 troops within months.
Clarence House and the ministry said that the prince, a Second Lieutenant, would carry out a "normal troop commander's role". In this role Cornet Wales, as he is known in the military, will oversee 12 soldiers in light-armoured vehicles performing reconnaissance missions in the desert.
Military planners have privately expressed concern that the mere fact of the prince being in Iraq could itself attract terrorist attacks on British soldiers in the south of the war-ravaged country. They fear that insurgent groups would be drawn by the possible "cachet" of a successful attack on a member of the British Royal Family and that it would lead to more attacks on UK forces.
"Speculation about precisely where Cornet Wales will serve, or the exact details of his role, is potentially dangerous," a joint statement from Clarence House and the ministry said. The statement also urged "all media organisations to respect this matter of operational security in order that Cornet Wales can undertake a normal tour of duty."
Although the prince was branded a "wild child" by some when he was younger after admitting to smoking cannabis and under-age drinking, he went on to pass a gruelling, 44-week military officer training course at the Sandhurst military academy. He then became an armoured reconnaissance troop leader 4 1/2-month course at Bovington Camp in Dorset.
Cornet Wales learned the ins and outs of Scimitar tanks and armoured tactics and also trained on live firing ranges.
Last month, he joined members of his regiment on a training course that specifically prepares soldiers for conditions in Iraq.
"There is no way I am going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country," the prince said in 2005.
In addition to the Duke of York, Harry joins a host of other royal family members to have served in the British military. King George VI, then Prince Albert Duke of York, served as a naval officer during the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Prince Phillip, before he became Duke of Edinburgh, served in the British Navy during the Second World War, seeing action in the Mediterranean.
After Queen Elizabeth II, the line to the throne is headed by Harry's father and his older brother, Prince Charles and Prince William.
