Harry withheld from tour of duty in Iraq after threats

Prince Harry will not be going to Iraq after all, the head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt announced yesterday.

The decision that the 22-year-old Prince will not deploy with the rest of his regiment came a month after Sir Richard said he would, in fact, be going. Sir Richard said the decision had been taken in the light of a number of "specific threats" to the Prince that would expose him and troops with him to "a degree of risk that I now deem unacceptable".

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It had been reported that Harry, third in line to the throne, would resign his commission in protest if he was not allowed to go to Iraq with his fellow soldiers from the Blues and Royals. He has said in the past: " The last thing I said was 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. That may sound very patriotic but it's true. It's not the way anyone should really work."

Clarence House said that although the Prince was "very disappointed" by the decision, he would not leave the Army. A statement continued: "He fully understands and accepts General Dannatt's difficult decision and remains committed to his Army career."

Sir Richard said he had reached the decision following a wide round of consultation within the forces as well as a visit that he made to Iraq at the end of last week. "There have been a number of specific threats ­ some reported and some not reported ­ which relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual," he said. "These threats expose not only him but also those around him to a degree of risk that I now deem unacceptable.

"I have to add that a contributing factor to this increase in threat to Prince Harry has been the widespread knowledge and discussion of his deployment.

"It is a fact that this close scrutiny has exacerbated the situation and this is something that I wish to avoid in future."

Critics, however, said the decision exposed double standards within the military and was a propaganda coup for Iraqi insurgents.

Reg Keys, whose son Thomas was killed in 2003 when his Royal Military Police unit was surrounded by a mob in Maysan province, said: "It would appear that Harry's life is more valuable than my son or the other nearly 150 service personnel who've given their lives."

Desmond Swayne, a Conservative MP and a former Territorial Army officer in Iraq, said: "This creates the impression of a victory for the insurgents. It's clearly got to be a blow to morale if a member of the Royal Family is treated as if he's too precious to be sacrificed or put in harm's way."

Although Clarence House insisted the prince will not leave the army, Major Charles Heyman, the editor of Armed Forces UK, said that he thought the prince would almost certainly resign, arguing that he would now have no credibility in the Army.

Prince Harry became a cornet in the Blues and Royals, joining the Household Cavalry regiment. Last May he trained to become a troop leader of a reconnaissance unit.