Britain's Prince Harry wearing the beret of the Blues and Royals in his final training exercise, Exercise Threshold, in Cyprus, March 2006, in this Ministry of Defence photo. Prince Harry, an army officer and third in line to the throne, will receive training to prepare for deployment in Iraq, a newspaper said yesterday. - Reuters

LONDON (Reuters):

Britain's Prince Harry, an army officer and third in line to the throne, will receive training to prepare for deployment in Iraq, a newspaper said yesterday.

Harry's regiment, the Blues and Royals, has been earmarked to serve in Iraq from April, according to the News of the World.

Some 7,100 British troops are stationed mostly in the south of Iraq where they are battling insurgents.

A spokesman for Clarence House, which speaks on behalf of the princes, would not confirm the newspaper report.

"No decision on deployment has been made yet," the spokesman said.

Defence officials said earlier this year, it was intended that Harry undertake a full range of operations but his deployment or presence in a conflict zone may be reconsidered if he were to become a specific target.

The Ministry of Defence was not immediately available for comment.

Course

Harry, 22, and other members of his regiment, will attend an Operational Training and Advisory Group course this week, which is only given to troops heading for a war zone, News of the World said.

The two-day course will drill Harry and his comrades in basic Iraqi Arabic-part of the army's strategy to win hearts and minds. The soldiers will also be trained in local customs and living in extreme conditions, the paper said.

Prince William is also in the Blues and Royals but cannot serve in a war zone because he is second-in-line to the throne.

Harry, whose mother Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash when he was 12, is a second lieutenant in the Household Cavalry.

Once dubbed a wild child for underage drinking and drug antics, he made it clear in an interview to mark his 21st birthday, that he would not shy away from action and the ministry stressed that he had joined to become an "operational soldier".

Ministry of Defence figures show that 129 British military personnel have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.