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Prince William to serve on attachment to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force

9th October 2007

Prince William will serve on attachment to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force next year following the completion of his time with the Household Cavalry Regiment.

The attachments will enable Prince William to share the working lives of airmen and sailors, and to make comparisons with his own experience to date as an Army officer.

During his time with the RAF Prince William will realise a lifetime ambition to learn to fly.  The 25-year-old is to follow in his father's footsteps by learning to fly helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft during the four-month secondment which will start in January.

He will then serve with the Royal Navy, from where he will gain an understanding of life on submarines and surface ships.

The two secondments follow the Prince's year in the Blues and Royals.

As a Second Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry regiment, he currently commands a troop consisting of 12 men.

He entered the Blues and Royals having completed training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in December 2006.

In learning to pilot aircraft, William will be emulating his father's achievements some 35 years earlier.

The Prince of Wales earned his "wings" in 1971 after training as a jet pilot at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire and then went on to command the Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Bronington.