Prince Harry is not afraid to die · 2007-04-27 15:15
Prince Harry, the third in line to the throne, will be sent to the war zone with his regiment, the Blues and Royals.
However, commanders will be ready to send him home if his arrival unleashes the threatened wave of attacks on British troops, Daily Mail informed.
Defence chiefs ordered an urgent review into Harry’s deployment after a string of threats by Iraqi extremists to kill or capture the 22-year-old prince, and a recent rise in fatal attacks on UK forces.
Before flying to Iraq within days Prince Harry told his friends: “I’m not afraid to die.”
“Harry says he is not afraid to die, because of his own mother’s tragic death, but he is very afraid for the soldiers fighting with him,” Daily Mail quoted one of Prince’s friends.
“He thinks that because he is so high profile, one of his men may end up being captured and held to ransom or even killed because of him.”
According to insiders, Harry had threatened to resign from the Army if he were stopped from serving with his men.
Eleven British soldiers have been killed in Iraq in the last month alone. Two died last week performing exactly the role that Harry is set to undertake.
Corporal Ben Leaning, 24, and 27-year-old Trooper Kristen Turton of the Queen’s Royal Lancers were patrolling the desert in a Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle which was destroyed by a hidden roadside bomb.
Harry will be the first Royal to serve in a combat zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew helicopters for the Royal Navy during the Falklands conflict 25 years ago.
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