Top general: Prince Harry will not serve in Iraq

Second Lieutenant Harry Wales of the Household Cavalry was to deploy to Iraq as a member of the 'A' Squadron of the Blues and Royals. He would have been the first British royal to serve in a war zone since Prince Andrew during the Falklands war. Harry is third in line to the English throne, and there had been widespread talk amongst the royals and military about forbidding him from going, but he was reported to have threatened to quit the military if he was not sent.

LONDON -- Britain's Prince Harry will not be sent with his unit to Iraq, Britain's top general said today, citing specific threats to the third in line to the throne.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt said the changing situation on the ground exposed the prince to too much danger.

"There have been a number of specific threats, some reported and some not reported, that relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual," Dannatt said. "These threats exposed him and those around him to a degree of risk I considered unacceptable."

Clarence House, the office of Harry's father, Prince Charles, issued a statement declaring Harry's disappointment that "he will not be able to go to Iraq with his troop deployment as he had hoped."

Read the rest at the LA Times

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