ARMED security on Prince Harry has been doubled amid growing fears that he is the main target for a new wave of Islamic and Irish terrorists.

Six SAS-trained gun guards have been shadowing soldier Harry wherever he goes after Britain's security services raised the threat of an attack against the Royal Family to Level 2 - only one below "imminent".

Yesterday a similar ring of steel was thrown around Prince Charles and Camilla as they arrived in India to open the Commonwealth Games. The Queen and Prince William have also had their security increased.

Today we can reveal that the Tower of London and an unnamed mainline station in the capital are on a list of targets spilled to US spy chiefs by a terrorist who broke under interrogation.

German national Ahmed Sidiqi, 36 - a fanatic trained by al-Qaeda - also named the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the 5-star Hotel Adlon at Berlin's Brandenberg Gate as it emerged that terror cells are plotting a series of Mumbai-style massacres in the UK, France and Germany.

The list of targets he gave them also included Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, Berlin's new Central Station and the landmark Alexanderplatz TV Tower in the city.

And last night it emerged that the US government is taking the threats so seriously it may warn Americans to stay away from public buildings in Europe.

TARGET: Charles and Camilla with India's President Patel in New Delhi yesterday
TARGET: Charles and Camilla with India's President Patel in New Delhi yesterday

Prince Harry, third in line to the throne, is regarded as a high-risk target because of his service in Afghanistan and his fun-loving lifestyle.

Normally three Scotland Yard SO14 protection officers accompany him when he goes partying. Last weekend there were six of the elite SAS trained men armed with Austrian 9mm Glock 19 pistols.

A security source told the News of the World: "Six guards is a major step up from the norm. Protection officers tend to be kept at a minimum to allow the Royals a chance of having a normal life. But as the risks go up then the protection capability has to be increased."

The 26-year-old Prince has even been asked to scale down his clubbing and to avoid his favourite haunts and nightclubs to foil terrorists who may know his routine.

"Harry is seen as at particularly high risk because he served in Afghanistan. No chances are being taken," said a royal source. Vigilance is essential and there is a feeling that one cannot be too careful."

Ever since Harry returned from active duty in Afghanistan in 2008, he has been earmarked as a top target for home-grown Islamic extremists loyal to Osama Bin Laden. Now the emergence of a new threat from Irish dissidents has been added to the menace mix. Another security source said: "Irish terrorists traditionally choose police, military and iconic targets over mass casualty targets. Prince Harry being both a soldier and a Royal is someone inevitably at risk."

The UK terror threat level is now at "severe" - meaning a terrorist attack is believed to be "highly likely". That belief has been strengthened by the revelations of the German whistleblower Sidiqi.

After his arrest in Kabul he told US interrogators of planned commando style attacks across Europe like the 2008 Mumbai atrocity in which 166 people were killed.Two British brothers are thought to have been at the heart of the plotting along with eight Germans. The Brits were being closely monitored by security services and are believed to have made calls to terror contacts in Britain. One of the men was killed last month in a missile strike by an unmanned US drone on a suspected terrorist stronghold in the tribal region near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

According to Pakistani intelligence, the dead Briton was called Abdul Jabbar. There was no news of whether his brother survived.

A security source revealed: "It has not gone down well that this plot has leaked out.

"It was in the early stages of planning and there was a lot more work that needed to be done to bottom out who else was involved in this credible plot." The targeted Eiffel Tower has been evacuated twice this month after bomb scares amid growing fears that Paris - after the Madrid and London terror attacks of 2004 and 2005 - would be next.

BIN LADEN: New attacks
BIN LADEN: New attacks

Anti-terrorist military vehicles and troop carriers have been seen openly driving around the capital while 3,400 police and 800 soldiers have been deployed to "sensitive locations".

Meanwhile the UK security focus this weekend has been on Charles and Camilla's visit to India. Security has been ultra sensitive around their itinerary.

When the News of the World was told a fortnight ago that Camilla would attend an holistic medical centre in Bangalore ahead of the visit, Clarence House asked us not to run the story before they had held a security meeting.

The royal couple arrived in India guarded by six royal protection officers.

The armed officers are also backed up by Indian special forces on alert for the royal visit.

Charles met UK and Indian trade leaders at the High Commission and top students at the Indian Institute of Technology.

Later he had tea with India's president Prathiba Patel with whom he will jointly open the Commonwealth Games tonight.

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