Prince William joins the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals)

Prince William will join The Household Cavalry, with the aim of becoming an armoured reconnaissance troop leader, if he successfully completes his Officer Cadet Training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

He will join his brother, Prince Harry, in The Blues and Royals, one of the two regiments that form The Household Cavalry.

Like all Officer Cadets at Sandhurst, Prince William considered a number of regiments before applying to join The Household Cavalry. He based his decision on the variety of roles which the regiment undertakes, from reconnaissance support to airborne forces, right through to ceremonial duties. The Prince was also attracted by the Regiment’s outstanding record in recent decades, most notably during the Falklands Conflict, the 1991 Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, in Iraq and in Northern Ireland.

Prince William’s time in the Army will be divided into two parts. He will spend the first year or so continuing his training to become a fully qualified armoured reconnaissance troop leader and experiencing life as a young officer at regimental duty. This will include commanding a troop of twelve Household Cavalrymen both in barracks and in the field.

Following on from this period of regimental service, Prince William will broaden his focus to encompass familiarisation attachments to the other two Armed Services.

He will also spend time in this second period attaining his own personal military goals, which will emerge as his experience of the Army grows and his specific areas of interest develop.

At this time, interspersed with his military activities, he will be undertaking public engagements, which will become more frequent as he approaches the end of his service.

Prince William will also aim to address the wider issues of preparing himself for his future roles: learning more about constitutional matters, charitable work and the organisation and estate management.

Finally, Prince William will be further developing his ideas for his medium-term role following Army service, both in supporting The Queen and The Prince of Wales and in furthering his own charitable interests.