As brothers they are close, but in terms of career choices they couldn't be more different. The same week Prince Harry undertook a training exercise with the Royal Gurkha Rifles news emerged that Prince William has been lined up to do a stint behind a desk at the Foreign Office.
With the second in line to the throne's military training due to end in autumn 2009, aides have been helping him plan the next stage of his career as he prepares for his future role as king. They hope the post - which will mark the first time a future monarch has worked in the civil service - will give him an understanding of some of the departments which will one day act in his name.
Like his father before him, the 25-year-old Prince may face decades before he succeeds to the throne, and is said to feel unsettled while he watches friends embark upon their careers. He is due to complete another 18 months in the army, serving as a troop leader in the Household Cavalry. But while he's enjoyed elements of life in the armed forces, it's never been a long-term career choice for him, as it is for his brother.
Harry, 22, was this week embarking on the next step of his military training with a spell with what is generally recognised as one of the British Army's finest elements – the Gurkas. The regiment, made up of Nepalese soldiers, earned its reputation in the 1800s when its members were recruited as allies to British forces in India.
At the end of the four-day exercise in Wales with the 3rd Batallion, Royal Gurkha Rifles, he will be presented with a kukri – a traditional Nepalese curved knife. "Harry will be told that when the kukri leaves its sheath it can never be returned without blood being drawn," explained an army insider.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
