Royal Military Titles Reshuffle: Prince William’s New Role

King Charles has recently made changes to the military roles for Prince William, Queen Camilla, Princess Kate, and others.

King Charles revealed updated military designations for the royal family on Friday, and one of Prince William’s new titles has a significant link to his brother Prince Harry.

At the age of 74, the King granted his eldest son and successor, three fresh military roles: Colonel-in-Chief of the Mercian Regiment, Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of Royal Air Force Valley – a place where he once worked as a helicopter pilot in the Royal Air Force’s Search and Rescue Force.

Taking on the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, 41-year-old Prince William now holds a leadership position in the same unit his brother, Prince Harry, used to belong to.

Back in 2008, when he was 38, Harry succeeded in his Army Air Corps Grading and Pilot’s Selection Board interview, and then underwent training to become an Army Air Corps pilot in 2009, as detailed on the royal family’s website.

“On successful completion of that Army Pilots Course, Prince Harry was selected to train on the Apache Attack Helicopter,” the Duke of Sussex’s bio says.

“On the same day, it was announced that Prince Harry received his provisional wings from his father,” as Charles was Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps at the time.

Prince Harry had significant involvement with the military, completing two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

From 2007 to 2008, he served as a Forward Air Controller, and then from 2012 to 2013, he worked as an Apache Pilot. During his service in this unit, he achieved the rank of Captain in 2011 and gained qualifications as an Apache Aircraft Commander.

Prince Harry lost his three honorary military titles – Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of Royal Air Force Honington, and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command – when he and Meghan Markle decided to step back from their senior royal roles in March 2020. These titles were returned to the royal family.

During Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September, most of the royal family members wore military uniforms, while Prince Harry chose to wear a suit.

A spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex told PEOPLE in a statement, “His decade of military service is not determined by the uniform he wears, and we respectfully ask that focus remain on the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”