Princes hope for frontline duty

Prince Harry: 'I'm better than William'

Prince William and Prince Harry have spoken of their desire to serve in the armed forces on frontline duty.

Prince William, 26, who is training as a search and rescue pilot, hinted he wanted to follow his younger brother, who has served in Afghanistan.

"I didn't join the forces to be... mollycoddled or treated any different," Prince William said during a photocall at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire.

Prince Harry, 24, is currently training as an Army helicopter pilot.

'Important job'

"As far as I'm concerned, in my eyes, if Harry can do it then I can do it," Prince William.

"And I think that as the future head of the armed forces it's really important that I at least get the opportunity to be credible and to do the job that I signed up for and to do the best I can. I mean, that's all I ever wanted to do.

To go out to Afghanistan again would be fantastic and my best chance is to do that with helicopters Prince Harry Princes reveal brotherly respect

"The search and rescue role is now slightly different to obviously being able to go to Afghanistan, but it's still doing an important job."

Prince Harry said: "I love flying helicopters. I just hope I can be better than the best - I always strive to be spot on.

"To go out to Afghanistan again would be fantastic and my best chance is to do that with helicopters."

Prince Harry said that he would probably end up flying Lynx helicopters if he completed his studies.

"I'm a bit of a Lynx lover since I started this course," he said.

He added: "I shouldn't really have said that, I should be selling the Apache. I love the Apache as everyone does."

The two princes are living together while they carry out their training at the base.

Prince Harry previously served in Afghanistan in 2008, as a forward air controller for the Army.