PRINCE Harry, an army officer and third in line to the throne, could be deployed to Iraq by the end of February.
According to reports, the 22-year-old will be sent to Basra, in the south of Iraq, where the UK has more than 7,000 troops.
The Royal Family and Ministry of Defence said arrangements for troop deployments had still to be finalised and they would
refuse to make detailed comment until then.
If he is to be sent to the front, the prince is likely to be in charge of 12 soldiers in light armoured vehicles performing reconnaissance missions in the desert. Defence Secretary Des Browne is expected to announce the news officially on February 26.
The prince, whose mother Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash when he was 12, is a Second Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals, part of the Household Cavalry.
A defence source was quoted as saying: "The final details are being sorted, but he is definitely going. Naturally, his royal status has to be taken into account - but he will see action."
Previous reports have suggested that defence chiefs were drawing up a plan to deploy the Royal without putting his life or those of his troops in any greater danger.
Planners worry that the mere fact of the prince being in Iraq could itself attract terrorist attacks on British soldiers in the south of the 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.
"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.
A Royal Family spokesman said: "The reports are speculation. Nothing has been finally decided, although a number of options are being considered. Until the Secretary of State [for Defence] has confirmed it in Parliament, it's just speculation."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The final decision has not yet been made as to which units are going."
