Despite rumours, which are said to have originated with Chelsy Davy, the British Ministry of Defence has denied that Prince Harry will be deployed to Iraq in the spring with his regiment, the Blues and Royals.

The official line is “no decision has yet been taken”. Chelsy may have got the wrong end of the stick from a text or a phone conversation from an over-eager Prince Harry.

British forces were due to wind down to a much smaller presence in the next six months, so it’s possible that the regiment will not be sent at all.

The only fly in the ointment is that if President Bush decides on one last push, with more American troops being sent, it would be difficult to bring British troops home in that climate.

The situation is very fluid at present, and it’s likely that even the MoD doesn’t know what the state of its forces in Iraq will be by May.

Update: We’re now hearing that Prince Harry will be officially informed of any decision to send the Blues and Royals to Iraq, and whether he will go with them, on his return from Mozambique on January 5.

The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast is this year, for the first time, available as a podcast. You can subscribe to the feed at www.royal.gov.uk.

The Queen will speak about respect for the elderly, while stressing the need to guide the young instead of leaving them to their own devices, the modern tendency.

The podcast of the broadcast will be downloaded to you automatically after 3pm GMT on Christmas Day.

If you’re interested in Kate Middleton’s ancestry — and many are — click through to this article by Christopher Wilson titled, Kate, the Coalminer’s Girl

A very interesting read.