William Says Don't 'Mollycoddle' Him

Sept. 22, 2006 — -- One day he will be king, but before that he'll be a soldier.

When he finishes military academy just before Christmas, Prince William will join younger brother, Harry, in a British cavalry regiment, Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals.

Members of the Blues and Royals are known for riding on horseback in parades and doing armored reconnaissance in war zones.

Before he even put on a uniform, William made it quite clear he was not joining the military for a desk job.

"The last thing I want to do is be mollycoddled or wrapped in cotton wool," he said. "If I was joining the army, I would want to go where my men went and I'd want to do what they did."

Prince Harry, who skipped college and joined up before his older brother, feels the same way.

"The last thing I want to do is have my soldiers sent over to Iraq and me to be twiddling my thumbs … and thinking, 'What about [friend] David? What about [friend] Derek?'" Harry said.

British soldiers are serving and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Would William, Britain's future king, really be put in harm's way?

"Prince William will want to serve with his regiment with his soldiers in command of them on operations. That's what he will want to do," said Col. Bob Stewart, a retired British army commander.

But he might not get his wish.

"There may be some circumstances where his overt presence might attract additional attention that could lead to a rise in the risk to those he commands or himself," the British military said in a statement.

Patrick Jephson, Princess Diana's former private secretary, said the word "overt" left Prince William's actual role in the military open to interpretation.

"If people didn't know he was there, then the additional risk wouldn't be incurred," Jephson said. "Therefore, that leaves open a loophole, I think, for him to serve in an operational situation but perhaps without anybody knowing about it."