8 royals you didn’t know served in the military

Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess Elizabeth, was 13 years old when World War II began in 1939.

While many British children were evacuated from London to the countryside or other safe havens, Elizabeth and her siblings remained behind with the Queen Mother and their father.

In 1945, when the princess turned 18, she broke royal tradition — and protocol — by enlisting in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, a women-only branch of the British Army.

While enrolled in the ATS, Elizabeth trained as a mechanic and truck driver. Though she never saw combat, she is the only female member of the royal family to have served in the British Army.

Long before she trained as a nurse, Mary took a particular interest in supporting British troops during World War I. She designed a program that provided every member of the armed forces with a Christmas gift.

The History Press reported that the program raised over £162,000 in 1914 — £15.9 million ($21 million) today, per the Bank of England — and facilitated the distribution of tins filled with luxury items like tobacco and chocolate to active service members.

By the time the war ended, 2 million gifts had been distributed through the program.

Mary was the first child of a sitting monarch to train at Great Ormond Street, a children’s hospital in London, The History Press reported.

As heir apparent to the throne, Edward trained in the Royal Navy from 1907 until 1911. However, at the start of World War I in 1914, he joined the army as a staff officer in the Grenadier Guards, Britannica reported.

Despite being willing to, Edward never served on the front lines of the war.

The Secretary of State for War at the time, Herbert Kitchener, deemed it too dangerous for the heir to the throne to risk dying in the war — or worse, being captured by enemy forces and used as leverage.

“What difference is it if I am killed? The king has four other sons,” Edward once asked Kitchener, according to his New York Times obituary.

“If I were certain you would be killed, sir, I don’t know whether I should be right to restrain you,” Kitchener reportedly responded. “What cannot permit is the chance of the enemy securing you as his prisoner.”

Edward VIII became king in 1936 but abdicated the throne later that year.

Michael, a grandson of George V and a cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, began training at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in 1961. Two years later, he was commissioned into the 11th Hussars, a regiment of the British Army.

According to his royal profile, he completed service in Germany, Hong Kong, and Cyprus during his 20-year military career.

Throughout his lengthy military career, he has held multiple military titles, including Honorary Air Marshal of the Royal Air Force and Senior Colonel of the King’s Royal Hussars.

William was commissioned as an officer in the British Army after completing his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2006.

Two years later, he transferred to the Royal Air Force, where he trained as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot. He served in active duty for three years, aiding in hundreds of rescue missions.

The heir to the throne never served on the front lines, as his brother Prince Harry did in Afghanistan.

While he was still studying at the University of Cambridge in 1971, Charles trained and qualified with the Royal Air Force as a pilot.

However, he spent most of his military career with the Royal Navy, which he served with between 1971 and 1976.

Charles’ military career would prove to be a turning point in his life. When he was deployed, he left behind his then-girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles. While he was away, she became engaged to Andrew Parker Bowles, setting off a chain of events that led him to marry Princess Diana.

The youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II had a brief stint in the military. Edward joined the Royal Marines in 1986 after graduating from the University of Cambridge, but left training after just four months.

Edward was supposed to complete his training in one year, and his decision to quit sparked considerable media attention.

“Prince Edward is leaving the marines with great regret but has concluded that he does not wish to make the service his long-term career,” a statement from Buckingham Palace read at the time, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Like Prince Harry, Andrew — Queen Elizabeth’s third child after Charles and Anne — is one of the few working royals to have served in active combat.

He served as a helicopter copilot during the Falklands War, engaging in missions related to submarine warfare. He retired from active military service in 2001, earning the title of commander after 22 years in the Royal Navy.

Prince Andrew later stepped down from his royal duties and was stripped of his royal patronages and military titles in 2022 after Virginia Giuffre accused the prince of forcibly having sex with her when she was 17 years old. Giuffre said disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein introduced the pair.

Prince Andrew denied the allegations, which were made public in a 2015 defamation suit. In August 2019, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson issued a statement to Business Insider “emphatically denying” the claims.

In 2022, Andrew settled a lawsuit brought by Giuffre over the allegations. Andrew did not admit to sexually abusing her but agreed to pay Giuffre an undisclosed amount and make a donation to her nonprofit advocating for victims of trafficking.