Prince William wants to fight on front line

Britain's Prince William has hinted he would like to follow in the army-booted footsteps of his younger brother and fight on the front line.

But, as the future king, it's unlikely William would be exposed to the dangers faced by Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan.

"I still remain hopeful there's a chance," William, who is currently training to fly search-and-rescue helicopters, told reporters. "I think as a future leader of the armed forces, it's really important you at least get the opportunity to be credible and to do the job I signed up for, as best I can. That's all I want to do.

"The search and rescue role is now slightly different to obviously being able to go to Afghanistan, but it's still doing an important job."

Prince Harry, 24, known in the military as Lt. Henry Wales, is taking the same flight training program completed by his 26-year-old brother.

Maj. Zog Zvegintzov, the commanding officer of the defence helicopter flying school in Shawbury, western England, has declined to say what role the younger prince would eventually have.

Harry - who was denied the chance to go to Iraq when the British army said it was too risky - served in Afghanistan last year as a battlefield air controller until his time was cut short by a media leak. He now could spend four months to a year training in one of the British Army's helicopters - the Apache, the Lynx or the Gazelle.

Zvegintzov said that the choice of aircraft - and where it was deployed - would depend on the British military's operational requirements at the time, adding that Harry was still a long way from completing his training.