He was a big hit in Jamaica last year where he famously raced Usain Bolt and danced to Bob Marley in blue suede shoes, so few surprises that despite a string of gaffes, Prince Harry will be undertaking another foreign tour this year.

But, sources say, it won't be to China, which had been the suggestion of some speculation in the UK media.

Undoubtedly sending Harry to China would have been a better idea than sending his dad, Prince Charles, who once called the elders of the country old "fossils" and is bessies with the Dalai Lama, but there were some who always questioned the advisability of sending Prince Harry on a diplomatic jaunt to China. You can't really do informal with Communist dictators.

Diplomacy with the People's Republic is tricky at the best of time, and in a land where age and discretion are almost as much prized as they once were in England, it did seem a bit of a daft plan.

Following the Prince's latest mess - his idiotic televised comments, in which he spoke about killing Afghans, and compared warfare to playing Xbox and playstation - the notion has now been scratched altogether. In fact, a senior courtier tells the Royalist that the China idea never even reached the planning stage.

However, a St James’s Palace spokesman tells the Royalist that there is some good news for Harry watchers:

“It is planned that Prince Harry will undertake an official overseas tour at some point this year,” the spokesman says.