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William graduates as RAF pilot
11/04/2008 21:16 - (SA)
London - Britain's Prince William was presented with his ceremonial pilot's wings on Friday by his father Prince Charles, after graduating as a military pilot and following in the footsteps of a host of his royal ancestors.
Prince Charles, wearing full military dress with rows of medals and thick gold braid, fixed the traditional insignia badge to the left breast of his son's uniform at a ceremony at an air force base in Cranwell in eastern England.
The prince's girlfriend, Kate Middleton, and his father's wife, Camilla, looked on as William graduated with his class of colleagues.
"To those who fly today, these badges are the most coveted of all our insignia and rightly so," group captain Nigel Wharmby told the recruits as they received their wing badges.
William spent four months with Britain's Royal Air Force learning to pilot helicopters and planes. His study was designed to make him a competent, but not operational flier.
British fighter jet pilots normally spend up to four years under instruction.
The course is part of William's preparations to eventually become king, when he will become the ceremonial head of Britain's armed forces. The 25-year-old prince is second in line to the British throne.
He has already graduated as an army officer and is due to serve a tour overseas, most likely on board a navy warship.
Defence officials said previously that William could be deployed to areas such as the South Atlantic, the Persian Gulf, the Pacific Ocean or the West Indies.
The royal is following in the footsteps of his father Prince Charles, who passed his training in 1971, his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh, who earned his wings in 1953, and his great-grandfather Prince Albert, later King George VI, who became the first royal to serve in the RAF, between 1918 and 1919.
William's younger brother Harry returned from Afghanistan in February. He served 10 weeks in the volatile Helmand province - a tour that was cut short after a magazine and websites breached a news blackout aimed at protecting him and disclosed details of his whereabouts.
Flight Lt. Kerry Goldsworthy-Trapp, 24, who graduated alongside William, said he had been a good colleague in the skies.
"William was a really nice guy. He was very easy to get on with and had a good sense of humour. I think he did really well. He fitted in like everyone else. He wanted to be accepted by everyone," she said.
- AP
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