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Prince Harry has a lot to be excited about. On Wednesday, he officially completed his 18-month training in flying Apache helicopters and won the prize for best co-gunner pilot.
 Click here for military photos of Prince Harry At the same time, there is a strong possibility he may return to the front lines of Afghanistan. The Prince served in Helmand province for 10 weeks, from late 2007 to early 2008.
If he serves again in the war-torn country, he will be in more danger than before. The Taliban have shot down British aircraft at times, and who’s to say the global media would agree on a blackout during his deployment, as they initially did the first time around?
Last April, His Royal Highness said in an interview that he wouldn’t learn to fly helicopters if he couldn’t serve in the RAF.
“I’d just be taking up a spare place for somebody else if they didn’t have me going out on the job, ” he said.
During a celebratory dinner at RAF Wattisham, Apache Force Commander Col Neale Moss congratulated the new pilots – Prince Harry being one of 20 – describing the training as “extremely challenging”.
“They are assessed continually to ensure that they are up to the challenge of operating one of the most sophisticated attack helicopters in the world,” he said of the graduates.
“This requires composure, dedication and hard work.”
If the Prince does go back to Afghanistan, it won’t be until later this year.
Sources: BBC, Sky News
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge has begun a six week deployment to the Falkland Islands’ military base off the coast of Argentina. This has sparked diplomatic tensions between the South American county and the United Kingdom as they both went to war over these chains of islands in 1982. The Argentinians are calling Prince William a “conquistador”.
 Click here for Prince William military pics The Prince, who is a search and rescue pilot with the RAF, “will arrive on our soil in the uniform of a conquistador, and not with the wisdom of a statesman who works for peace and dialogue between nations,” the country’s foreign ministry said.
Since the announcement that William will be deployed on the Islands, both countries have been trading a war of words. Argentina accuses Britain of trying to divert attention away from its economic troubles.
“The governments should avoid the temptation of inciting debates that transform patriotism into bullying with the aim of distracting public attention from political decisions to reduce spending in the context of structural crisis and high unemployment,” the foreign ministry’s statement said.
It added, “Britain insists on ignoring U.N. resolutions, weakening diplomatic efforts and increasing the risk of more wars.”
At the same time, the U.K. is accusing Argentina of colonialism since the country also claims the Falklands.
“The key point is we support the Falkland Islanders’ right to self-determination, and what the Argentinians have been saying recently, I would argue is actually far more like colonialism because these people want to remain British and the Argentinians want them to do something else,” he said.
In response, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner accused Mr Cameron of “mediocrity bordering on stupidity”.
Prince William is of course, not expected to do any diplomatic tasks while stationed on the Falklands. He will be leaving the Islands sometime in March, right before the 30th anniversary of the war that killed more than 600 Argentine soldiers killed and 200 Britons.
His uncle, Prince Andrew, served in the war.
Sources: AP, Telegraph
Madrid witnessed its annual military parade on Friday, which represents the end of the December holidays and starts the political new year in Spain. This year’s Pascua Militar is also the first for the new Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, as well as the newly appointed Chief of Staff of Defense, Admiral Fernando García Sánchez.
 Click here to see more photos King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia came out for the military parade, which took place on a sunny afternoon. Past Pascua Militars were on rainy days, but this day was a stroke of luck for them. The King and his heir were in military uniform while the royal women were in formal dress. Both the Queen and the Princess tend to wear similar colors during this event.
The national anthem was played, followed by a 21 gun salute. His Majesty then reviewed the royal guard.
Inside the royal palace, at the Hall of Gasparini, the royals greeted the guests. They were: the institutional officials and the heads of the Defense Staff, the Royal and Military Order of San Fernando and San Hermenegildo, Civil Guard and the Brotherhood of Veterans.
The King then gave a speech where he paid tribute to Spain’s fallen soldiers and their families. He also urged the Armed Forces and Civil Guard to “uphold the principles of discipline, hierarchy and unity,” which, “with the duty of political neutrality and union” are “essential” to the tasks assigned to them.
He also talked about the current economic crisis. “I have the certainty that as you have done in the past exemplary way, you know get the most out of resources allocated and to be very careful in the use and maintenance of the media.”
“Thanks to your reputation, the result of your excellent staff training and high demand, our young people are attracted to the military profession,” King Juan Carlos said.
The tradition of Pascua Militar goes back to 1782 to the reign of King Carlos III. It is always held on the Feast of Epiphany, January 6th.
Source: ¡Hola!, Diez Minutos
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prince Harry, were at the Sun Military Awards Monday night. It was a night to honor British troops for their service to the United Kingdom.
 Check out more images of the event here William and Harry wore tuxedos, while Catherine looked amazing in a black velvet strapless Alexander McQueen gown. She also wore an impressive necklace that was a wedding gift from a not-yet revealed person.
The trio chatted with servicemen and women at the Imperial War Museum before the actual ceremony. It was then Harry gave a speech where he both praised the troops and talked about his military career. The 27 year old Prince had spent the past several weeks in the United States learning to fly Apache helicopters.
He said: “I am a young Army officer, a serving soldier. Like my brother, I share many of the same hopes, the same aspirations to go on operations, and the same fears as all those who serve our Queen and country.
“By an accident of birth, though, it falls to 564673 Captain Wales humbly to express – on behalf of my comrades-in-arms and people up and down the country – the admiration we feel for the extraordinary men and women we honor here tonight.”
He added: “It’s often said of our armed forces that they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Well, I don’t entirely buy that. Ordinary people don’t run out under withering enemy rocket and heavy machine gunfire to rescue a wounded comrade.
“Ordinary people don’t brave monsoon conditions dangling on a winch line to rescue 13 people, each in turn.
“For that matter, ordinary people don’t put their lives on the line for distant folk, such as the Afghans, who need our help and are now turning their country round because of it.”
Harry also spoke warmly of the families of the troops.
“The strength and courage it must take to see your husband or your wife, your father or mother, son or daughter, head off into the unknown – and to support them doing it – I can hardly even imagine,” he said. “So, to our amazing, brave families, I know I join every single service man and woman in saying from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.”
The Sun Military Awards, or Millies as Britons call it, were also attended by soccer star David Beckham, along with sons Brooklyn and Cruz, Gordon Ramsay, Jimmy Carr, and Frank Lampard.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg were also there. They held a reception at 10 Downing Street and Clegg said this to the troops: “You shouldn’t just be proud of the servicemen and women with you in your work, and you shouldn’t just be proud on behalf of your families and communities but I hope you do also know that you make the whole nation very, very proud indeed.”
Source: Telegraph, Daily Mail
 Click here to see more related photos It was announced Thursday the Prince William, second in line to the British throne, will spend six weeks next year deployed to the Falklands. His Royal Highness will be doing search and rescue duties, as he already does in the RAF.
The RAF said in a statement Flight Lieutenant William Wales, as he is known in the military, would “complete a routine deployment to the Falkland Islands as part of a crew of four personnel during February-March 2012″.
“This deployment forms part of a normal squadron crew rotation and will form part of Flt Lt Wales training and career progression as a search and rescue pilot within the RAF.”
Having the Prince in the Falklands during that time will come on the 30th anniversary of the 74 day Falklands War, where Britain and Argentina battled over the chain of islands.
Some say having the future King of the U.K. in the Falklands would show the country’s further insistence that they own those islands.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner once said her country’s sovereignty is “non-negotiable”. In June, she also called Britain a “crude colonial power in decline”.
Meanwhile, Prince William is said to be very pleased over his deployment. He had often spoke of not having his status prevent him from being treated like any other serviceman.
However, his wife, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge will not be able to join him. The couple will experience a six week separation.
Source: Sky News
Britain’s Prince Harry arrived Friday morning in southern California to the Naval Air Facility at El Centro near the Mexican border. He is to be in the States for two months to complete his training in order to be qualified as an Apache helicopter pilot.
 Click here to check out Prince Harry pics at Daylife.com The Prince is one of 20 British military students who will divide their time between El Centro and the Gila Bend Auxiliary Air Force Base in Arizona. They will be trained on firing missiles, rockets and cannons from the Apache, which is used by British forces in Afghanistan.
Harry spent 10 weeks in Afghanistan from December 2007 to February 2008, and he has expressed desire to return to the war torn country.
However, that decision belongs to the Prime Minister. When Harry went to Afghanistan the first time around, there was a media blackout about his deployment until an Australian magazine and the American news website Drudge Report revealed him fighting in Afghanistan.
Until then, the 27 year old Prince is in the U.S., where locals think it will be exciting to get a glimpse of him. Like all the other students, Captain Wales – as he is known – is free to leave the bases during downtown, but locally, he may not have much to do.
“We don’t have places for him to cruise around. He’s going to get bored. I would recommend the mall,” said Jesus Gonzalez, a local resident.
Where Harry could be spotted is Las Vegas. The media will have a field day is the party-loving Prince turned up in Sin City.
“If they want to fund it themselves and that’s what floats their boat, then yes, they can go to Las Vegas,” says the exercise director of the training session British Lt Col Peter Bullen
Sources: Hello!, Telelgraph
 See more photos here at SN.dk Crown Princess Mary spent Sunday in the town of Kalundborg, where she named the newest vessel of the Danish navy.
The vessel is called the Holger Danske, after both Denmark’s national hero and the resistance group during the Nazi occupation. A few surviving members of the group were guests of today’s event.
As part of the naming ceremony, there was a military parade and a naval band performing a few songs. Crown Princess Mary inspected the honor guard during the ceremony. She trained with the Danish Home Guard, from 2008 to 2009.
After she officially named the vessel, the Crown Princess joined its crew for a short sailing around Kalundborg’s harbor. When that was over, Mary took part in a reception at Restaurant Fjorden.
Source: The Royal Forums, Nordvestnyt.dk
On a rainy Monday in Copenhagen, many of the adult members of the Danish royal family turned up at the Citadel for the unveiling of a monument dedicated to Danes who died while serving abroad for international efforts. 100,000 of Denmark’s soldiers have participated in peacekeeping and fighting efforts since 1949. Some returned home, others didn’t.
 Click here for more photos at SN.dk Queen Margrethe II gave a speech during the inauguration of the monument: “The monument stands in its simplicity as a symbol of the efforts of Danish men and women for many years has made around the world. Here are the names of the many who paid the highest prince who gave their lives. Here we will remember them and remember that Denmark’s efforts have costs that are not made up in dollars and cents,” she said.
Afterward, the Queen laid a wreath underneath the inscription that read: “A Time, A Place, A Human Being”.
The rest of the royals in attendance – Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie – followed Her Majesty in a tour around the octagon shaped memorial. It is divided into three parts: an outer section to be used for future ceremonies, an inner part that lists the places where Danish forces were placed, and a more inner part has the list of the 107 soldiers who died while serving Denmark since 1949.
There is also an eternal flame in honor of those who fell.
This monument was unveiled on Denmark’s Flag Day.
Sadly, another name will be added to the 107 names already listed. A 22 year old soldier was killed by an explosive device in Afghanistan over the weekend.
Sources: Billed Bladet, The Royal Forums, Billed Serie
The second son of Belgium’s Princess Astrid and Archduke Lorenz was promoted to the rank of officer in the Belgian navy Friday.
 Click here for more at Zimbio.com Prince Joachim, age 19, celebrated with his family during a ceremony aboard the ship, Godetia.
“He may now as an officer on duty be at the bridge for all ships of the Belgian Navy,” said Peter Degraer, commander of the nautical school. “Prince Joachim was an excellent student. His language is very good. If the prince wants, he can possibly offer in the civilian shipping, because there are valid certificates.”
Born in December 9th 1991, Joachim is the third child of Astrid and Lorenz. His siblings include Prince Amedeo (who is a reserve officer in the Belgian army), Princess Maria Laura, and two younger sisters: Princesses Luisa Maria and Laetitia. He is styled as HRH and HIH – because his father is a member of the Austria-Este royal household. Joachim’s titles include: Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Prince of Modena.
He is ninth in line to the Belgian throne.
Sources: Het Nieuwsblad, Wikipedia
Fresh off their historic wedding last Friday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have settled into a quiet, military life on the Welsh island of Anglesey. They will go on their honeymoon in their near future, but for now, Prince William has to work for the RAF Search and Rescue, while new wife Catherine intends to be a housewife.
 Click here for more pics of the wedding According to the Daily Mail, the Duke and Duchess want to enjoy the early years of their married life and ease into public life. This decision may have been inspired by William’s grandparents Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. During the first years of their marriage, the then Princess Elizabeth lived on Malta while Philip worked on a British military base. The Queen has said those years were her most happiest.
But William and Catherine are not going to disappear from the public altogether. They have a tour of Canada in July, which would have them spend two weeks in the Great White North. The couple will also make appearances for Prince Philip’s 90th birthday this June, plus participate in next year’s Summer Olympics in London and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
“Catherine wants to enjoy her time with William as an RAF wife,” a source told the Mail. “It’s so rare that someone in her position gets the chance to live as a normal wife and she intends to make the most of it.”
However, there are rumors that the Duke will be stationed in the Falkland Islands off Argentina next year. That means William and Catherine will be separated for 10 weeks. This is because those weeks are considered to be rather short according to military deployment, and there’s no need to bring a wife along.
Since this deployment has been up in the air for a while, it is believed William and Catherine knew this separation would happen and are prepared for it.
Source: Daily Mail, Telegraph
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