Military School For Prince William
Prince William, a former art history student noted for his charity work, is shedding his sensitive image and embarking on a career in the British army.
The 23-year-old prince expressed delight Friday at news he had won a place at the elite Sandhurst military academy, where he will follow a grueling training program aimed at honing his leadership qualities.
"I am really looking forward to taking my place alongside all the other cadets at Sandhurst," William said in a statement released by Clarence House, the office of his father, Prince Charles.
The young prince, who is second in line to the British throne, learned early Friday that he had successfully passed Sandhurst's selection process and would join his younger brother, Prince Harry, at the college south of London. Harry, 21, enrolled in May, about a year after finishing his high school studies.
That means that starting next year, Prince William the heir will have to salute Prince Harry, the spare, reports CBS News correspondent Steve Holt.
Steve Holt reports on William's acceptance to Sandhurst. The elder son of Charles and the late Princess Diana had previously announced his intention to train to become an army officer.
He graduated in June from St. Andrews University in Scotland with a masters degree in geography. Art history was his major field of study when he began at St. Andrews but he switched to geography during his degree course.
Since graduation, William has begun to undertake solo royal duties, including a trip to New Zealand. He also spent time learning about land management on various country estates — including his father's Duchy of Cornwall — and recently began a work experience placement in the charity-services division of HSBC, one of Britain's biggest banks. Royal officials have also said he will join a mountain rescue team.
William has said he plans to do work with AIDS charities in Africa — a cause closely associated with his late mother, and last month he followed in Diana's footsteps by becoming patron of a British charity for young homeless people. He also packed boxes of emergency supplies for survivors of the Asian tsunami, along with his brother Harry, earlier this year.
Last November, William said in an interview that he would want to fight on the front line if he joined the army.
"The last thing I want to do is be mollycoddled or wrapped up in cotton wool because if I was to join the army I'd want to go where my men went and I'd want to do what they did," William said in the interview with Britain's Press Association and the British Broadcasting Corp. "I would not want to be kept back for being precious, or whatever, that's the last thing I'd want."
Major General Patrick Cordingley, the former commander of the Desert Rats, says William may get his wish.
"They will make him do exactly what anybody else would do, and I hope that will include sending him to operational zones," Cordingley told an interviewer.
Britain's largest "operational zone" right now is Iraq, where it has more than 8,000 troops and has suffered 97 casualties. It also has about 900 in Afghanistan, about 800 in Bosnia and about 200 in Kosovo.
A spokeswoman for Clarence House said it was unclear when next year William would enroll at Sandhurst. Students can start their course there in January, April or September.