Britain’s military denied newspaper reports on Thursday that it was banning Prince Harry from serving in combat in Iraq, but acknowledged his deployment was under review.
A decision to cancel his mission would be an embarrassing reversal that could hand a propaganda victory to insurgents, undermine US and British assertions that southern Iraq is becoming safe and anger the prince himself.
Harry, third in line to the throne, is due to head to Iraq with his ”A” Squadron of the Blues and Royals regiment in the coming weeks as part of the latest British troop rotation. He would patrol the desert in a Scimitar light reconnaissance tank.
”Prince Harry’s deployment to Iraq, as we have always said, is under constant consideration,” a Defence Ministry spokesperson said. ”It is still our intention that Prince Harry will deploy as a troop leader.”
Cornet Wales, as he is officially known, has long said he enrolled at Britain’s Sandhurst military officers academy with the intention of serving on the front line.
But April has already been the deadliest for British troops in Iraq since the first month of the war and there are fears Harry’s presence could put troops alongside him in more danger.
Among the 11 British soldiers killed in Iraq this month were two in a Scimitar blown up by a roadside bomb in Maysan province, the first successful insurgent attack on the kind of tank that would carry Harry.
Insurgents in southern Iraq have been using deadlier bombs to attack British armoured vehicles in recent weeks. A close friend of Harry’s brother Prince William was among those killed this month when a Warrior troop carrier was destroyed. — Reuters