Prince William, the second-in-line for the British throne, has expressed his desire to fight for Britain on the front line in Afghanistan. The future king, who until now was believed to have been barred from going to war because of his position, said on Thursday that he was still hopeful to perform active duty before he leaves the military to take up his royal mantle. 26-year-old William, who is currently training with the Royal Air Force to become a search and rescue pilot, said: "To me, I didn't join the forces to be mollycoddled or treated any differently. As far as I am concerned, in my eyes, if Harry can do it, then I can do it. I want to fight in Afghanistan." The prince's optimism is at odds with military chiefs who have always privately expressed the opinion that it would be impossible for him to be sent to a war zone.
Senior royal and RAF sources, however, told the Mail that it is not inconceivable for the second-in-line to the throne to be deployed in Afghanistan in some capacity once his commitment to the RAF's search and rescue arm were met. "It is clearly something said from the heart," said one. "I don't really separate it into that much difference. As a future head of the armed forces it's really important you at least get the opportunity to be credible and to do the job I signed up for the best I can. That's all I have ever wanted to do," prince William said. When told that he seemed to suggest an operational role wasn't an impossibility, the prince replied:
The prince was speaking in a rare- and extraordinarily open - joint interview with his younger brother, Prince Harry, at the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, where the two are currently based. At the same time, Prince Harry spoke of his determination to return to war as soon as possible following his aborted 10-week stint with the army in Afghanistan last year and said he believed becoming a pilot was his best chance of achieving that by as early as 2011. 24-year-old Harry is training with the Army Air Corps to become an attack helicopter pilot and currently shares an off-base 'bachelor pad' with his elder brother, the first time the pair have lived together since they were young children. Harry candidly admitted that he had struggled with the academic side of the course initially but was "absolutely loving" learning to fly. He said, "I have always had a love for helicopters and have always wanted to be a pilot and I am hoping this will be my easiest way of getting back to the frontline. "May be it's safer, may be it's not safer. I don't know. There is a bit of pressure from certain places... reasons why I am not allowed to go back (to Afghanistan) and do the same job."
