Prince Harry's army career has taken a new turn with the third in line to the throne swapping a combat role for a desk job as a staff officer, media reported on Monday.

Prince Harry has been sent to the British Army's battle-training facility at Suffield in Canada [Images], his first posting since the decision was taken not to deploy him in Iraq with his troops from the Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry.

Newspaper reports over the weekend suggested that Prince Harry was being given extra training on Scimitars, a reconnaissance vehicle used by his unit, as a prelude to sending him covertly to Afghanistan.

However, The Times has learnt that Prince Harry's time in Canada, based at the British Army Training Unit Suffield (Batus) in Alberta has more to do with office work than preparing for an armoured role in Afghanistan.

For combat troops, the dangers are as great in southern Afghanistan as they are in Iraq. Following the death of a soldier from the Grenadier Guards in Helmand province on Saturday, the number of members of the British Armed Forces who have died since November 2001 has risen to 60.

The 60th person soldier to die was identified on Sunday as Guardsman Neil Downes, 20 from Manchester, who joined the Army in 2004.