Doughty Sea King vs. Deadly Apache! How their rival royal choppers sum up William and Harry’s very different characters…
- One prince chose search and rescue, while the other was on the front lines
It is fitting that both royal princes, William and Harry, had chosen to make a living flying helicopters.
The princes, who had famously bonded growing up, started their training at the same time at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire in 2009 and shared a small house nearby during that time.
Yet they would become helicopter pilots with starkly contrasting styles.
Prince William at RAF Valley in Anglesey, where he flew a Sea King search and rescue helicopter
Prince William takes control of his Sea King during a training exercise on Holyhead Mountain in 2011
Prince William stands with his search and rescue crew next to their Sea King helicopter at RAF Valley
William chose to join the RAF Search and Rescue Force, which meant working alongside the brave Sea King, first at RAF Valley on Angelsey and then with the East Anglian Air Ambulance, transporting doctors and medics to places brought distress.
For the younger brother, however, helicopters meant the Apache – a war machine that author Tina Brown describes as “the most deadly and challenging aircraft.”
In her best-selling book The Palace Papers, she writes that Harry, blessed with excellent hand-eye coordination, won the award for best co-pilot gunner in his class.
‘Someone from his military circle said, ‘The people who know say he has always been exceptional. He went to Afghanistan and was absolutely exceptional in every way.”’
A Palace source suggested to Brown that the different helicopter styles encapsulate something of the characters of the princes themselves: “one boy extremely martial, the other bravely empathetic.”
“Harry flew an Apache armored attack helicopter, which should reach around 200 knots 10 feet above the ground, perform 39 functions simultaneously and fire guns in all directions,” the source said.
Captain Wales, as he was known in the British Army, sits in the front seat of an Apache – a very different beast from a Sea King
Prince Harry on tour in Afghanistan. One royal source suggested that an Apache ‘performs 39 functions simultaneously, firing guns in all directions’
Harry is said to have been a top student at the helicopter training school with excellent hand-eye coordination. He is pictured at Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache helicopter pilot
“While William was flying this big beast of a search and rescue plane with extra fuel tanks… hammering his way through the storm, plucking someone out of the ocean and coming back.
“It’s a classic description of the two guys.”