In the end of May, General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the British army, announced that Prince Harry will not be sent to Iraq as planned. "Following a visit to Iraq last week I discovered a number of threats relating directly to Prince Harry and those around him and I am not prepared to export those risks," the general said in a statement.

"I know Prince Harry will be extremely disappointed and his soldiers will miss his presence in Iraq," Dannatt added.

In response, A statement from Clarence House, official residence of Harry's father Prince Charles, said: "Prince Harry is very disappointed that he will not be able to go to Iraq with his troop on this deployment as he had hoped.

"He fully understands and accepts General Dannatt's difficult decision and remains committed to his Army career. Prince Harry's thoughts are with his troop and the rest of the battle group in Iraq."

Prince Harry, 22, had been due to be deployed in Basra, in southern Iraq, with his Blues and Royals regiment in the coming weeks as part of the latest British troop rotation.

Today Daily Mail reported that according to a source close to the British prince the 22-year-old has told friends he "just couldn't face the humiliation" of being refused to serve on the frontline

A spokesman for the prince insisted late on Friday: "Prince Harry remains committed to his Army career," although a royal source was also quoted as saying: "It is up to him how long he wants to stay in the Army. No one will put pressure on him either way."

In future, the prince would prefer to focus on his humanitarian aid and promote the aid organization Sentebale which he set up in memory of his late mother Diana to help aids orphans in the southern African Kingdom of Lesotho.

Harry is currently on a training exercise of the elite regiment Blues and Royals in Canada, which serves in preparation for a possible deployment in Afghanistan.