From Sandhurst to second lieutenant: Prince of Wales's military career
Like many members of the Royal Family, Prince William maintains close ties to the Armed Forces.
While his charitable efforts benefit the forces and veteran communities, the Prince of Wales also has seven-and-a-half years of full-time UK military service.
Forces News has examined the Prince's Armed Forces career.
After graduating from the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 2005, the Prince joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS).
Following a 44-week course as an Officer Cadet, he was commissioned as a British Army officer in December 2006.
Prince William then joined the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals) as a second lieutenant, commanding a troop of four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles, and was promoted to lieutenant a year later.
Following the completion of his time with the Household Cavalry, 2008 saw the Prince undertake attachments to the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.
His four months with the RAF helped him learn to pilot helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, while two months with the Royal Navy included shore training and navigation with sailors and the Royal Marines.
An interest in flying saw Prince William train as a search and rescue pilot in 2009.
Passing his exams with the Royal Air Force, Flight Lieutenant Wales joined C Flight, 22 Squadron, at RAF Valley in Anglesey in September 2010.
Three years as a search and rescue pilot saw the then Duke of Cambridge conduct 156 operations, take on routine operational deployment to the Falkland Islands and qualify as an operational captain.
After leaving operational duties with the Armed Forces, Prince William retrained to become an air ambulance pilot and worked with the East Anglian Air Ambulance for more than two years from March 2015.
On his time spent working as an air ambulance pilot, William said: "When I put my air ambulance hat on and I come here and I fly, I'm one of the team."
Prince William is patron of the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and Honorary Air Commandant of Royal Air Force Coningsby, highlighting the role of military history after creating some of his own.
Both him and Prince Harry have highlighted the difficulties facing service personnel who wish to transition to civilian life.
In June 2022, Prince William, dressed in the uniform of Colonel, Irish Guards, and Guard of Honour Order, took part in Trooping the Colour, an event that kicked off the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Last year, Prince William added Colonel-in-Chief of The Mercian Regiment, Colonel-in-Chief of The Army Air Corps and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Valley to his growing list of military commitments.
RAF Valley is where he was based during his military service.
The base is where military jet pilots are trained, with Prince William serving there as a search and rescue pilot for three years.
In May, the King handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to the Prince of Wales in front of an Apache attack helicopter at Middle Wallop Airfield in Hampshire.
Prince William was able to embark on his first engagement with the Army Air Corps after the King left, receiving a briefing on its work and inspecting training and operational aircraft as well as talking to soldiers.
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