Prince William

If you are unlucky enough to have an accident on the Snowdonia mountains and need the services of the RAF’s paraffin budgie, you might instead end up with a Golden Osprey.

That’s the codename given to the training programme to turn Britain’s second-in-line to the throne into a fully fledged search-and-rescue helicopter pilot. Prince William – or Flight Lieutenant Wales as he is known to his fellow pilots – starts his training today.

The 18-month course with the Defence Helicopter Flying School aims to turn out Prince Charles’s son as a skilled pilot of Sea King helicopters, the flying workhorses of the RAF which so often support Britain’s mountain rescue teams when quick evacuation of casualties is called for.

The 26-year-old prince starts his training at the DHFS base at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire. He will begin on single-engine Squirrel helicopters before moving up to twin-engined Griffins.

William will also serve at RAF Valley on Anglesey, learning specialist search and rescue techniques. If successful, he will be stationed at one of the six Search and Rescue Force bases in the UK.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The RAF is very proud of its links with the royal family and all involved are looking forward to welcoming Flight Lieutenant Wales into the Royal Air Force.”