Mr Prescott's bruising experience has taught him a hard lesson: that pre-election de-centralisation rhetoric does not impress battle-hardened Whitehall mandarins, who instinctively resist any attempt to encroach on their territory.
Only this week the 22-year-old was confirmed as one of the star attractions at the pre-Wimbledon tournament at Eastbourne, but now faces a battle to clear his name.
The president, however, is coming under intense pressure from various sources, notably British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the State Department and the Congress, to deny the Pentagon the pre-eminent role it has earned with the development and execution of a brilliant battle plan for toppling Saddam.