Prince Harry's long-standing wish to serve in Afghanistan has been given the green light by the chiefs of Britain's armed forces and Queen Elizabeth II - his grandmother - reports said Thursday, DPA reported.
But the reports in two tabloid newspapers, the Sun and the Mirror, were not explicitly confirmed - or denied - by the Ministry of Defence and Clarence House, the prince's London residence.
"We cannot comment on the deployment of individual service personnel," said a spokesman for the MoD Thursday.
However, a spokesman for Clarence House said that any decisions on deployment were up to the army.
"Harry is an army pilot and will deploy wherever the army chooses to send him. His course finishes in 2012 and after that his deployment will be a matter for the army chain of command," said the spokesman
Harry, 26, has in the past repeatedly said he would like to serve in Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot. He is currently undergoing training on Apache attack helicopters, which are deployed in Afghanistan.
Asked in March what his aim was after he qualified as an Apache pilot, he said: "My goal is to serve my country like everybody else in the British forces."
"I count myself very, very lucky to have the chance to fly helicopters and even luckier to have the chance to fly the Apache. It's a fantastic piece of kit, it's like flying a robot."
Harry, a British Army captain, served for 10 weeks in Afghanistan as a forward air controller in 2007-08, directing jets dropping bombs on Taliban positions in Helmand province.
But his tour of duty came to an abrupt end when foreign websites broke a media blackout on reporting details of his service.
His older brother, William, who is currently serving as a research and rescue helicopter pilot in the Royal Air Force, has also repeatedly said he wants to go to Afghanistan.
However, with William being second-in-line to the throne, the issue of active service would raise serious security and constitutional concerns.