PRINCE George won’t be expected to join the armed forces before becoming king, an expert has claimed.
It’s believed Prince William will change the rules in a huge break from tradition in an aim to raise a “modern monarch”.
Prince George may sidestep a stint in the armed forces
William after an RAF training flight in 2008
Prince Harry at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan during his second tour in 2012
It means George will allowed to sidestep the usual stint with the army if he chooses, reports The Mail on Sunday.
Historian Dominic Sandbrook said: “In theory, there is nothing to stop George from pursuing a career as an astronaut, for example, if that’s what he wants, and then becoming King later.
“The rules are different now, he wouldn’t necessarily have to follow the old formula of going into the military and then Royal life.
“So, could Charlotte qualify as a doctor, for example? I don’t see why not. It’s less of a fishbowl now than when William and Harry were growing up.”
William completed a 44-week training course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst after graduating from university.
He was commissioned as an Army officer in December 2006 and joined the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals) until 2008.
He was later attached to the Royal Air Force and Navy.
During Harry’s ten years in the Army he completed two operational tours of duty in Afghanistan — in 2007-8 and 2012-13.
Despite William wanting to join the war, he was prevented from doing so given his position as a future King.
Historian Hugo Vickers said: “This is significant because it shows that times are moving on. I’m all for people keeping up with the times providing they don’t throw tradition out of the window.
“Maybe the military won’t prove to be the best course for Prince George, although I would hope that he might do something like the Duke of Edinburgh gold award instead, which is non-competitive.
George was front and centre of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last June, and the Buckingham Palace balcony photograph of a secure succession with all three heirs — Charles, William and George — was crucial to stabilising the monarchy’s reputation after a rather rocky period.
Then, in September, came the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch, when George had to step up, both at the Queen’s funeral and now as second-in-line to the throne.
All this in the same week he and his two siblings, Princess Charlotte, now eight, and Prince Louis, five, started a new school after the family moved home to Windsor from Kensington Palace.
