 The prince met soldiers and wives involved in welfare |
The Prince of Wales has been meeting families of soldiers from the Black Watch serving in Iraq. Prince Charles, the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, made his visit to a barracks at Warminster in Wiltshire.
The trip came two days after three members of the regiment were killed in a suicide attack near Falluja. An Iraqi interpreter also died.
Lieutenant General Sir Alistair Irwin said the families were "absolutely thrilled" to see the prince.
"It does an enormous amount of good for them to gather together in this sort of way and for somebody like the Colonel-in-Chief to come and show an interest and express solidarity," the colonel of the regiment said.
"It's a genuinely morale-boosting event and it will help people through the next few days enormously well."
The prince met about 80 families, including young children, of soldiers serving with the Black Watch and Queen's Dragoon Guards.
The 850-strong force has been attacked repeatedly since it arrived at Camp Dogwood, 20 miles (32km) from Baghdad, eight days ago.
Sgt Stuart Gray, 31, Pte Paul Lowe, 19, and Pte Scott McArdle, 22, were killed on Thursday, east of the River Euphrates, near Falluja.
The suicide attack came days after the Black Watch was controversially sent to the region from Basra, following a request from the US.
'Bees to honey'
The Army has refused to comment on e-mails reportedly sent by the Black Watch's commanding officer expressing concern at the redeployment of his troops.
In private e-mails, Lt Col James Cowan said he expected "every lunatic terrorist from miles around to descend on us like bees to honey", the Daily Telegraph reported.
He also said: "I hope the government knows what it has got itself into.
"I'm not sure they fully appreciate the risks."
Some relatives have also expressed their anger at the deaths of the three soldiers, saying the battle group should never have been in the area in the first place.
Charles Heyman, senior defence analyst at Jane's Consultancy Group, said the Black Watch may face even greater risk as US forces prepare to attack Falluja.
He said many militants had probably left the insurgent city and entered the area known as the "triangle of death" where the three Black Watch soldiers were killed on Thursday.
"Life could not be more dangerous for the Black Watch. The situation is much worse on the ground than many people appreciate," he said.
But Britain's former special representative to Iraq, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, said failing to act in Falluja could mean more attacks in the run-up to the January elections.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking from Brussels on Friday, hailed the bravery of the dead soldiers and said securing peace in Iraq was "absolutely crucial".
The latest attack brings to 73 the number of UK military personnel killed in Iraq - 31 of those as a result of enemy attacks.
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It's a genuinely morale-boosting event and it will help people through the next few days 
