Harry the cavalryman could be posted to Iraq
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 26/01/2006)
Prince Harry, third in line to the Throne, could find himself on front-line service in Iraq after it was announced yesterday that he is to join the Blues and Royals regiment.
Before he faces any possible deployment, he will help to provide the personal bodyguard to his grandmother, the Queen, when he joins the most senior regiment of the Army in April.
The Blues and Royals at the Trooping of the Colour
The announcement has started a debate within the Ministry of Defence and the Prince of Wales's office at Clarence House over how the prince's choice of regiment will influence its deployment on operations overseas.
The regiment's manoeuvres will now come under intense media attention. Prince Harry has expressed a desire to serve with the troops no matter where they are or how difficult the operation.
"There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country," he has said.
But, while the official decision for his deployment on an overseas mission will be made by his commanding officer, the MoD and Clarence House will have a significant say.
As an armoured reconnaissance regiment, the Blues and Royals have been deployed in almost every major Army operation of the past two decades, including the Falklands, both Gulf wars, Bosnia and Kosovo.
The regiment, which along with the Life Guards forms the Household Cavalry Regiment, has been pencilled in to form part of 20 Brigade when it deploys to Iraq in May.
If it is decided that the presence of Prince Harry would jeopardise soldiers, he will either not be deployed or will be given a position where he would be under less threat.
Prince Harry during his training
Yesterday's announcement cleared the way for Prince William, the first heir to the Throne to attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, to join the Welsh Guards, which was thought to be Prince Harry's preferred choice.
As a second lieutenant in the Blues and Royals, Prince Harry's first task will be leading troopers under his command to provide the ceremonial protection of the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and in Edinburgh.
Another attraction of the cavalry regiment is its role within 16 Air Assault Brigade, where it provides a squadron of tanks. If he did join 16 Air Assault Brigade, the prince could be liable to be part of a force that deploys to Afghanistan this spring.
The polo-playing prince is also likely to have been swayed by the knowledge that the sport plays a large part in the Household Cavalry's non-military activities.
Prince Harry will join the same regiment in which James Hewitt, a former lover of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, and Andrew Parker Bowles, the former husband of his stepmother, the Duchess of Cornwall, both served with distinction.
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