HARRY'S IRAQ DEPLOYMENT 'DELAYED'

The soldiers will gather vital information about the threat posed by insurgents and get up to speed tactically before the third in line to the throne joins them, according to the Sun.

Harry, 22, will head to southern Iraq with the Blues and Royals some time in May for a six-month tour of duty, leading 12 men from A Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment in four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles.

An Army source told the Sun: "If the men are all familiar with their new surrounding before Harry arrives, they will be far sharper to the dangers of the inevitable first attack."

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman would not talk about the report and said: "We are not prepared to comment on individual deployments."

There had been mounting speculation that the young royal officer would not see service with his men in the Middle East after 12 soldiers died in Iraq last month.

But the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, who announced in February that the Prince would serve in the Gulf, confirmed on Monday that Harry was still on course to travel to Iraq.

It is feared Harry's arrival in Iraq will increase the risk of attacks on his colleagues in the Blues and Royals.

But any hopes the prince would be able to perform his duties under the "anonymity" of being just another officer were dealt a blow by claims from a Shia commander in Iraq that the Mahdi army had people inside British bases who would leak information about the Prince's arrival.

Abu Mujtaba, a commander in the Mahdi army, the Shia militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said one of his aims was to capture the Prince.