The royals and the army have lengthy been entwined. Whilst maximum royals hang honorary army titles and honours, lots of them additionally go through area of expertise coaching and energetic accountability. Maximum not too long ago, Denmark’s Prince Christian was once snapped in a soon-to-be-retired F-16 fighter jet and our personal Princess Kate were given at the back of the yoke of a storm. Listed below are the entire royals who’ve had their own Most sensible Gun second in flight simulators, helicopters and fighter jets.
The Princess of Wales
The Princess of Wales had her very personal Most sensible Gun second throughout a talk over with to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. It marked her first talk over with to the bottom since turning into Royal Honorary Air Commodore in August 2023. There, she sat within the pilot’s seat of the Hurricane Long term Artificial Coaching Facility.
Remarkably, she carried out a loop the loop, which is rarely sudden while you understand that her paternal grandfather, Peter Middleton, was once an RAF fighter pilot who served in International Battle II.
All through the go back and forth, she printed that her youngest son Louis is eager to apply in her grandfather’s footsteps and turn into a fighter pilot, however added: “I will inform them (her kids) it takes 8 years and numerous arduous paintings.”

King Charles
The King, as Sovereign, is Head of the Armed Forces. His Majesty is an army veteran himself, having skilled and served in each the Royal Army and the Royal Air Pressure.
He first flew in a de Havilland Chipmunk plane throughout his 2d yr at Cambridge College within the overdue Sixties, and made his first solo flight in January 1969.
After clocking over 90 hours of flying time, King Charles formally earned his wings in August 1971. Within the British army, the idea that of “incomes wings” is likely one of the very best recognitions of present process speciality or tough aviation coaching.
Even though he ended up having a profession within the Army, he put his flying talents to make use of by way of qualifying as a helicopter pilot in 1974.

Prince Harry
Prince Harry was once part of the Military Air Corps (AAC), which is the British Military’s struggle aviation arm. All through his ten-year army profession, the Duke of Sussex finished two excursions of Afghanistan. Then, in 2009, after 4 years of provider, he started his pilot coaching and in the end his Apache coaching direction.
In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Harry spoke explicitly about his time as a fighter pilot: “Day-to-day the Apache felt much less alien,” he wrote, “and a few days it even felt just right. I realized to be by myself in there, to assume by myself, serve as by myself. I realized to keep up a correspondence with this large, rapid, nasty, gorgeous beast, to talk its language, to pay attention when it talked. I realized to accomplish one set of talents with my fingers, whilst doing every other with my toes. I realized to comprehend how extra special this gadget was once: unthinkably heavy, but able to ballet-like suppleness.Essentially the most technologically complicated helicopter on the planet, and in addition essentially the most nimble. I may just see why just a handful of other folks on earth knew how you can fly Apaches, and why it price tens of millions of bucks to coach every of the ones other folks.”

Prince William
In 2009, Prince William started his coaching as a seek and rescue pilot, and after passing his assessments with the Royal Air Pressure, he joined RAF Valley in Anglesey in September 2010. His seven years of army provider noticed him deployed to the Falkland Islands.
After leaving the Armed Forces in 2015, William then retrained to turn into an air ambulance pilot, operating with East Anglian Air Ambulance for 2 years. The Prince took up authentic royal tasks full-time in July 2017, as he and Kate moved their circle of relatives from Norfolk to Kensington Palace in London.

Princess Leonor
Princess Leonor had her personal Most sensible Gun second on the Basic Air Academy in San Javier. the place she has begun coaching. The Spanish royal, 19, has marked the beginning of her ultimate yr of her army coaching as a long run captain basic of the Armed Forces when she accedes to the throne.
Leonor is about to start her flying courses at the floor sooner than she progresses to the air, HELLO!‘s sister e-newsletter, HOLA! experiences. The princess finished her naval coaching after spending her first yr with the Basic Army Academy in Zaragoza.

Prince Christian
19-year-old Prince Christian of Denmark enrolled in army coaching with the Gardehusarregimentet (Guard Hussar Regiment) on the Antvorskov barracks in Slagelse in February. Previous this yr, he took phase in an F-16 flying revel in as part of his army coaching. “It is improbable what that airplane can do,” he mentioned, nonetheless excited from the flight.
He will be following within the footsteps of his father, King Frederik, who spent a lot of his early profession within the army. Frederik served within the infantry regiment of the Royal Existence Guards and the Royal Frogmen Corps, an elite particular forces unit throughout the Danish Army.