Military service by British royalty

This is a list detailing military service by British royalty, namely formal military service and not the honorary titles given to the members of the Royal Family.

Service Information

Name of Royal	Branch of Service	Rank	Years of Service	War time service	Unit	Military Training	Medals	Other
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge	RAF, British Army and RN	Squadron Leader, Flight Lieutenant, Captain, Lieutenant	2005–2013[1]	None	Blues and Royals, No. 22 Squadron (RAF Search and Rescue Force)[1]	Royal Military Academy Sandhurst RAF Cranwell	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	Commodore-in-Chief of HMNB Clyde; Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Navy Submarine Service; Commodore-in-Chief of Scotland; Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Coningsby; Colonel of the Irish Guards
Prince Henry of Wales "Prince Harry"	British Army	Captain,[2] Troop Commander, Forward Air Controller, Co-Pilot/Gunner	2006–2015	Afghanistan	Blues and Royals, Household Cavalry, 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd Mechanised Division, Army Air Corps, 662 Squadron of 3 Regiment	Royal Military Academy Sandhurst	Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan, Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	Canadian Ranger; Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington; Commodore-in-Chief of Small Ships and Diving
Charles, Prince of Wales	RAF, RN	Pilot, Captain (Ret'd)	1971–1976	None	845 Naval Air Squadron	Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Commando Training Centre Royal Marines	None	Colonel-in-Chief - Commonwealth Armies and Air Commodore-in-Chief of Commonwealth Air Forces; General/Admiral of the Fleet/Marshal of the Royal Air Force of the British Armed Forces[3]
Prince Andrew, Duke of York	RAF, RN	Helicopter Pilot, Commander (Ret'd)[4]	1980–2001	Falklands War	815 Naval Air Squadron	Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Commando Training Centre Royal Marines	South Atlantic Medal with Rosette	Honorary Air Commodore Royal Air Force Lossiemouth, Vice Admiral Colonel-in-Chief of various units in the Canadian Forces
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex	Royal Marines[5]	Acting Lieutenant (withdrew from training)	1986–1987	None	Unknown	Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (Did Not Finish)	None	Royal Honorary Colonel, of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry Royal Colonel, of the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles Commodore-in-Chief, of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Honorary Air Commodore Royal Air Force Waddington Colonel-in-Chief, of The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment Colonel-in-Chief, of The Prince Edward Island Regiment Colonel-in-Chief, of the Saskatchewan Dragoons
Prince Michael of Kent	British Army	Major (Ret'd)	1963–1981	Cyprus 1971 - United Nations mission, Hong Kong	11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)[6]	Royal Military Academy Sandhurst		Colonel-in-Chief of The Essex and Kent Scottish (Canadian Forces)
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent	British Army	Lieutenant-Colonel	1955-1976 (Ret'd)[7]	Sovereign Base Areas-Cyprus, Hong Kong, Eastern Command	Royal Scots Greys	Royal Military Academy Sandhurst		Field Marshal, Personal Aide-de-Camp to The Queen, Colonel of the Scots Guards, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Royal Colonel of 1st Battalion The Rifles, Colonel-in-Chief of the Lorne Scots Regiment, Canada, Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Honorary Air Chief Marshal and Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Leuchars.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh	RN	Commander[8]	1940-1952[8]	World War II -Allied invasion of Sicily, Battle of Crete, Battle of Cape Matapan	British Pacific Fleet	Royal Naval College, Greenwich, Britannia Royal Naval College	War Medal 1939-1945 with Oak Leaf, Atlantic Star, Africa Star, Burma Star with Rosette, Italy Star, Greek War Cross, Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 with Palm	Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom and Field Marshal of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force, Marshal of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Captain General Royal Marines, Colonel-in-Chief-The Royal Canadian Regiment
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom	Auxiliary Territorial Service, British Army	Subaltern, Junior Commander (equivalent to Army Captain)	1948–1949	World War II ATS Service	None	None	War Medal 1939-1945, Defence Medal	Ceremonial Colonel-in-Chief - Commonwealth Armies and Air Commodore-in-Chief of Commonwealth Air Forces
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma	RN	Admiral of the Fleet	1913-1945[9]	World War I and World War II	5th Destroyer Flotilla	Naval Cadet School	See: Louis Mountbatten Honours Order of Merit, Distinguished Service Order	Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom), First Sea Lord
George VI of the United Kingdom	RN, RAF	Squadron Leader	1909–1919	World War I	HMS Collingwood Royal Naval Air Service RAF Cranwell Independent Air Force	Britannia Royal Naval College	None	Colonel-in-Chief - Commonwealth Armies (Canadian Army, Australian Imperial Force/Australian Army Reserve, New Zealand Expeditionary Force) and Air Commodore-in-Chief of Commonwealth Air Forces (RCAF, RAAF, RNZAF); Field Marshal of the British Army/Admiral of the Fleet of the Royal Navy/Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom	British Army, RAF	Lieutenant	1914-1918	World War I	Grenadier Guards	Osborne Naval College, Royal Naval College at Dartmouth	Military Cross	Colonel-in-Chief - Commonwealth Armies (Canadian Army, Australian Imperial Force/Australian Army Reserve, New Zealand Expeditionary Force) and Air Commodore-in-Chief of Commonwealth Air Forces (Royal Canadian Air Force, RAAF, RNZAF); Field Marshal of the British Army/Admiral of the Fleet of the Royal Navy/Marshal of the Royal Air Force[10]
George V of the United Kingdom	RN	Commander	1877–1891	None	HMS Bacchante	None	None	Field Marshal of the British Army/Admiral of the Fleet of the Royal Navy/Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne	British Army	Lieutenant	1875–1881		2nd Life Guards, Territorial Army		TD	Colonel of the 4th/5th Battalion of the Black Watch
William IV of the United Kingdom	RN	Rear-Admiral	1780–1789	American War of Independence	HMS Andromeda, HMS Pegasus	None	None	General of the British Army/Admiral of the Royal Navy

Military service of English monarchs

A few English monarchs came to the throne from other countries and served in the armies of their home country. A few served in other armies during their exile.

Service Information

Name of Royal	Service	War time service
George I of Great Britain	army of the Dutch Republic	Franco-Dutch War
William III of England	army of the Dutch Republic	Glorious Revolution
James II of England	Imperial French and Spanish Empire armies; he later served as Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy	1652–1656
Charles II of England	English Army - Commander of West Country 1640s and the Engagers	English Civil War
Charles I of England	English Army	English Civil War
Henry V of England	English Army	Hundred Years' War
William II of England	English army
William I of England	army of the Normans	Norman invasion of England

References

1. Prince William: Career accessed=11 March 2015
2. "Prince Harry: Military Career". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
3. "Prince of Wales: Military career". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
4. "The Duke of York: Military Career". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
5. "The prince with a difference". BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
6. "Prince and Princess Michael of Kent: Military Involvement". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
7. "Prince Edward: Military Career". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
8. "Prince Phillip: Naval Career". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
9. Heathcote (2002), p. 183
10. Cokayne, George (1940). The Complete Peerage. XIII. London: St. Catherine's Press. pp. 116–117.