More Work for the Armed Forces

In 2008, Prince William spent three weeks at the Britannia Royal Navy College, training with the world-famous Royal Marines, as well as on ships, submarines and with the Fleet Air Arm.

Always one for playing his part, William even took part in a secret underwater mission (during a subsequent five-week deployment on HMS Iron Duke in the Caribbean). He even assisted his crew in capturing a vessel carrying forty million pounds (around sixty-five million dollars!) worth of cocaine.

Despite William’s wishes however, it was clear that he would not be able to dedicate his career to full-time active service. The logistics of keeping his deployments private were of course a consideration, plus the huge risk of an heir to the throne being in some of the world’s most dangerous war-zones were not a situation top-brass would want.

Yet William still found a way to dedicate his time to the armed forces. Initially he joined a non-operational flying team with the Army Air Corps, and then transferred from the Army to the RAF to train as a full-time Search-and-Rescue helicopter pilot.

Although William has proved to be probably the most popular royal (alongside the public’s love for his mother), the press can still take delight in ‘errors of judgement’ – although in William’s case these have mostly been seen as ‘cheeky stunts’ rather than outright ‘bad behaviour’. William used a ten-million pound army helicopter to fly himself and his brother Prince Harry to a stag weekend on the Isle of Wight – landing him in hot (or at least lukewarm) water with the press. Once wonders how they would have reacted had Harry been the pilot – many people hadn’t forgiven him for his poor taste of dressing up as a Nazi for a fancy dress party…

Shortly after the stag weekend stunt, William was ‘at it again’, landing his helicopter in Kate Middleton’s back garden! It was a sure sign that the relationship was back on, and what young lady could resist that kind of gesture? He was certainly a knight (of the highest order we must note), and definitely in an armoured vehicle – if not shining armour!

Despite these somewhat negatively received reports, William was a fantastic advert for the RAF. Military top-brass were reported to be ‘savouring the fabulous publicity’ that the Prince had bought to the force.

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An RAF Chinook Helicopter

In January 2010, after having graduated from the RAF’s Defence Helicopter Flying School at Shawbury, William transferred to the Search and Rescue Training Unit in Anglesey.

Reports suggest that the Prince’s operational tour will last around three years, ensuring he remains with the armed forces until 2013. Starting as a co-pilot, one is sure that William will take on full piloting duties in the near future, having demonstrated himself to have a natural ability for flying.

Once again, at Christmas in 2010 Prince William showed his desire to ‘muck in’ with his colleagues. He put duty before family, and followed a tradition of unmarried servicemen to work on Christmas Day – having Christmas dinner with RAF colleagues in a forces canteen at his base! As on many previous occasions, the public loved this, and William continued to cement himself as a much-loved royal. Kate reportedly spent the day with her family in Berkshire, perhaps happy that media attention on her had subsided in recent months.

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