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Prince William now an army officer
The 24-year-old William joined 227 fellow cadets in the passing-out ceremony at Britain's elite Sandhurst army academy.
Prince William graduated as an army officer Friday with a royal display of parade-ground skills, in a traditional military rite of passage for the second in line to Britain's throne.
In a black uniform completed with a red sash and clutching a gleaming assault rifle, 24-year-old William joined 227 fellow cadets in the passing-out ceremony at Britain's elite Sandhurst army academy southwest of London.
His girlfriend Kate Middleton looked on beaming at the faultless display, attended by his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, his father Prince Charles and other royal family members.
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Prince William taking part in Exercise Winter Victory at Paramali Village, Cyprus, in this November 28, 2006 file photo. Photo Courtesy: Ministry of Defence and Clarence House of Britain |
"This is a milestone day," said the queen -- symbolic head of Britain's armed forces -- in a congratulatory speech before her grandson was formally made a Second Lieutenant.
"I'm speaking to every individual one of you when I say you are very special people," said the British monarch, wearing a dark red dress and matching hat.
"In your hands lies the task of maintaining the effectiveness of not just the British army but also the armies of our friends and our allies represented here today in peace and war," she said.
Clad in full military regalia, Prince Charles saluted his son's achievement as girlfriend Middleton, a pretty brunette in a red dress and black hat, sat smiling and chatting with her mother.
Having chosen to join the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals like his younger brother, William will now undergo a four-month training course to become a troop commander in an armoured reconnaissance unit.
Soldiers serving in such a unit must show "patience, nerve and cunning," according to the Ministry of Defence.
Though currently outranked by his younger brother, Prince Harry, a non-university graduate, William is likely to move on more quickly to becoming a captain because of his degree from St Andrews University in Scotland.
William has talked in the past about his intention to fight in conflict zones but is unlikely to see front-line military action, given his status as a future monarch.
"The last thing I want to do is be mollycoddled or wrapped up in cotton wool because if I was to join the army I'd want to go where my men went and I'd want to do what they did," he once said.
Instead, after a year in the British Army, he will likely spend time with both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, in an effort to craft himself into a future king.
Major General Sebastian Roberts said deploying Prince William to a combat zone could not be excluded.
"In general there are a lot of different factors that need to be taken into account. Of course there are special factors for William, but nothing should be ruled in or out."
Apart from the occasional media interest in his time at Sandhurst, William was just a regular guy, his peers said.
Junior Under Officer Angela Laycock, 24, who is in William's Blenheim Platoon, said: "I've not really noticed anything different to be honest. The first loaded march we had a bit of a detour (to avoid) some photographers.
"He's just a normal guy that gets stuck in like everybody else."
Laycock added: "The only difference is that sometimes we'll see his name in the paper and you didn't notice he'd been off that evening doing a charity do."
Prince Harry was absent from the ceremony as he was with his own regiment.
The ceremony came just a day after William was reported to have been upset with details about how paparazzi behaved before and during the death of his mother Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash.
He was briefed on the details before publication Thursday of a report concluding that her death was a "tragic accident" and dismissing conspiracy theories of a murder plot by British intelligence at the behest of his grandfather Prince Philip.
