King Charles has given members of the Royal Family new military appointments, including Prince William, Queen Camilla, and Kate Middleton. And coincidentally enough, one of William’s new appointments ties him to his younger brother, Prince Harry, in a new way.
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The brothers are connected through Harry's military service.
Prince William received three new military appointments: Colonel-in-Chief of the Mercian Regiment, Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of Royal Air Force Valley.
As the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, William is now a leader of Harry’s former military unit.
According to the royal family’s website, Prince Harry passed Army Air Corps "Grading" and Pilot’s Selection Board interview in 2008 before training as an Army Air Corps pilot in 2009.
"On successful completion of that Army Pilots Course, Prince Harry was selected to train on the Apache Attack Helicopter," Prince Harry’s bio reads. "On the same day, it was announced that Prince Harry received his provisional wings from his father," since Charles was the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps at that time.
Prince Harry had a robust military career
Prince Harry went on to serve two tours of duty in Afghanistan, from 2007 to 2008 and again from 2012 to 2013.
The Duke of Sussex was stripped of his three military titles (Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of Royal Air Force Honington and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command) when he and wife the Duchess of Sussex chose to step back from their senior royal duties in 2020.
As a result, at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral last year, Harry wore a suit while other members of the royal family wore their military uniforms. He did wear his uniform, "at the King’s request" when the grandchildren stood vigil at the Queen’s coffin while she was lying-in-state.
William isn't the only one with new appointments.
Prince William’s wife Kate Middleton also received three new military titles.
The Princess of Wales can now add the titles Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm, Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of Royal Air Force Coningsby to her résumé.
Her appointment to the Royal Air Force is especially poignant as one of her grandfathers served in the Royal Air Force. Her grandfather served as a co-pilot to Prince Philip in 1962, according to Hello!
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The couple also received honorary titles last year.
"An honour to serve our new military affiliations across the @royalnavy @britisharmy and @royalairforceuk," a post shared on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ joint Instagram account read.
In December 2022, King Charles gave Prince William the honorary title of Colonel of the Welsh Guards, and Princess Kate received the honorary title of Colonel of the Irish Guards, a role she took over from her husband.
Kate is taking over the role of Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm from disgraced Prince Andrew more than a year after he was stripped of the appointment.
Other senior royals received titles formerly held by Andrew.
In January 2022, Queen Elizabeth stripped Prince Andrew of his military appointments and patronages after a lawsuit saw him being accused of sexual assault.
Kate wasn’t the only member of the senior royals to receive one of Andrew’s former titles. Queen Camilla took over the titles of Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Lancers (where her father served during World War II) and Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.
Prince Edward's wife, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, received the title Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Irish Regiment after it was stripped from Andrew.
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