Prince Harry to Enter War Zone Training

By Simon Perry

01/15/2007 at 11:15 AM EST

Prince Harry is a step closer to a possible deployment in Iraq, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The prince, 22, and members of his Blues and Royals cavalry regiment, are taking a short course that troops usually undergo before heading to the war zone.

The session, run by the Operational Training and Advisory Group, is likely to include cultural and language classes and an overview of the situation on the ground, a Ministry of Defence source says.

The move has sparked speculation that Harry will serve on the frontline. He would be the first senior British royal to do so since his uncle Prince Andrew served in the Falkland Islands conflict in the early 1980s.

Still, Harry's spokesman tells PEOPLE that "no decision about deployment has been made."

An insider at the ministry adds, "Just because they are training doesn't mean they are commited to going. They are prepared to go if the generals need to commit them."

Harry, an armored reconnaissance troop leader, is likely to learn the decision in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Harry has been taking advantage of his time with long-term girlfriend Chelsy Davy, 21. On Friday they hit the Mahiki Club and, on Saturday night, the Cuckoo Club in London's west end. And, like brother Prince William, 24, and his girlfriend Kate Middleton, 25, the couple needed an extra set of police to guard them as they left the club Saturday night amid a crush of paparazzi.

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