Prince George may not be a teenager yet, but the young royal is already preparing for his future as King. The Prince and Princess of Wales have reportedly spoken to their eldest son about his royal responsibilities, and he is now expected to follow certain royal rules – including this strict travel ban.
In recent months, speculation that George will attend Eton College next year has been mounting – and in doing so, he would be following in Prince William’s footsteps. But there is another ‘significant’ royal tradition that George is expected to uphold in the not-so-distant future. Former royal butler Grant Harrold has claimed that the Prince will follow his father’s lead when it comes to his work, too. Although George will one day be King, before he ascends the throne it’s likely that he’ll spend time working in the military. After studying at university, Prince William went on to graduate from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before working as a search and rescue pilot – and Harrold stated that it would be ‘strange’ if George didn’t opt to do something similar.
On behalf of Study Dog, Harrold explained that while he believes George will go to university like both of his parents, ‘the real question is whether he will join the armed forces’. He said (via Fashion’s Digest): “It is possible that he could take on the position of being head of the Armed Forces and have little or no experience within their armed forces, and learn about it on the job. But it would be very strange if he stopped the tradition in the military.”
Although it’s still a long way off for the 12 year old Prince, when he does eventually take on the role of monarch he will also become the Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces. Within the royal family, it is tradition for the men to undertake some form of military training. The late Prince Philip served as a naval officer, while King Charles trained as a pilot with the RAF. Prince Harry also served in the British Army for 10 years and later founded the Invictus Games, a sporting competition for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women.
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Harrold continued: “Historically, royals were all about fighting battles and if suddenly that stops, that would be quite significant because that’s a big part of what the Royal Family is about. We’ve always had royals involved in the military or some sort, even if it’s for a short period of time. So it should still continue.”
Time will tell!