Prince William Heads to Military Academy

Jan. 6, 2005 — -- He has dabbled in high finance, trained as a mountaineering rescue worker, and gotten a crash course in farming. Now -- with his army boots and ironing board in hand -- the easy-on-the-eyes Prince William is off to try his hand as a military man.

In the six months since the 23-year-old royal celebrity graduated from college, he has enjoyed a lazy summer and tried a crash course in working. Now William, the second in line to the British throne, will join his younger brother, Harry, at the elite Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, Britain's equivalent of West Point, the U.S. military academy.

Although he has expressed no interest in becoming a military career man, Cadet W. Wales -- known in the British tabloids as "Wills" -- probably feels obligated to carry on the family tradition of military service.

The grueling dawn-to-dusk training will probably make Wills all the more appreciative of his work internships last fall.

When Wills received his degree from Scotland's St. Andrews University in June, Prince Charles pushed his son to get real-life experience before heading to the military academy.

Off he went, pimping his resume. Fortunately for him, prospective employers decided his work experience (none) and other interests (soccer, rugby, polo, girls) were outweighed by another consideration: his title.

The dashing prince started out learning how to run a park and a farm. He spent two weeks on the vast Chatsworth estate, which recently had a starring role in the movie "Pride & Prejudice."

Wills spent his days with the cows and pigs, but he at least could enjoy the company of one of his dad's buddies, the Duke of Devonshire, who owns Chatsworth.

After two weeks of roughing it in the country, Wills traded his rubber boots for a suit and tie, and headed off for a stint at the world's second biggest bank, HSBC. Let's just say the prince didn't fetch anyone's coffee or spend hours photocopying reports. Instead, he hobnobbed with upper management and sat in on client meetings.

Kate Middleton, Wills' girlfriend, whom he met at the university, must have been thrilled to have him in the city before he reported for duty.

No one flinched when he arrived an hour late on his first day. His bosses probably understood a prince could not use public transportation with all the other sad-faced commuters, although he could have taken the opportunity to ride one of the city's iconic red double-decker buses before they were phased out.

Once at work, Wills visited other financial institutions, like the London Stock Exchange and the Bank of England.

"I now have a much better understanding of how all the different financial institutions work and how they fit together," he said to the press at the end of his internship in the city.

He must have learned something there, because, according to Prince William, he won the stock-picking contest.

His brief visit left a mark on more than one HSBC employee. Worker bees on all floors started dressing a whole lot smarter, newspapers reported. Women weren't the only culprits, either. London's golden boys of finance also upgraded their ties and kerchiefs to impress the prince.

So did they share fish and chips at lunch and ask him about his girlfriend?

Grabbing lunch at a pub was OK, but personal questions were out of the question, the British media reported.

Before dashing off to military school, Wills got a head start on his peers by spending two weeks with the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Team in Wales.

The prince quickly traded his power suits for a helmet, harnesses, ropes and other mountaineering equipment.

But the RAF soon dashed Wills' hopes of playing the dashing hero prince.

Fearing that people would fake injuries atop cliffs in the hope of catching a glimpse of the blond Adonis, the RAF only allowed Wills to do practice rescues.

At least he reportedly got to spend more time flying and honing his pilot skills, which couldn't hurt. If he's to become king one day, Wills will also be the head of the British armed forces.

Or maybe all his flying time was just a way to deflect the outcry in the media after he hitched a ride on a fighter jet to pick up his army boots at Sandhurst.

The academy requires its recruits to break in their army boots before coming to campus. Wills knew better than to break the rule, considering his brother was nicknamed "Sick Note" during his training because of bad foot blisters.

After all, Wills, aka Cadet W. Wales, probably wants to outshine his brother, who passed the hard-core training regimen and now carries a rifle as an officer cadet.

The rest of the family already has trained to protect Britannia.

Prince Charles trained to become a pilot with the RAF and also served in the Royal Navy. Prince Philip, Wills' grandfather, served in the navy and saw action during World War II. Prince Andrew, his uncle, was a navy helicopter pilot in the Falkland Islands War.

It's too soon to know whether Wills will ever see combat himself, but he has got time to get ready just in case. His 44-week course includes military tactics and theory. He'll also be doing his own ironing and bed-making.

He can forget any hopes of long vacations or romantic getaways with Middleton, but at least he'll enjoy a couple of royal perks.

The prince has already said he won't miss an English soccer match during the World Cup this summer in Germany. Royal privileges will probably prevail, since he takes over as president of the U.K.'s "Football" Association.

At least for a little while, then, he'll get to ditch the army boots, relax with other privileged sports fans, and order tons of room service. He'll even be able to send his shirts to the laundry.