Only days after it was revealed that the Queen will see grandson Prince Harry become an Officer in the passing out parade at Sandhurst in April, it's now claimed the young Prince has invited Camilla and his father Prince Charles to be his special guests at the ceremony and lunch which will follow the Sovereign's Parade. Yet again, this is being portrayed as a signal of Harry's 'love' for his new step-mother.

An unnamed source tells Katie Nicholls in today's Mail on Sunday: "Cadets are allowed only two guests and Harry has chosen Charles and Camilla to come to the ceremony and luncheon. Harry is hoping to be awarded the Sword of Honour, which is presented to the best cadet, and he wants his dad and Camilla to be there."

Meanwhile, the paparazzi have been chased away from Sandhurst and have therefore (so far at least) failed in their desperate attempts to get the first picture of Prince William sporting his cropped, Army haircut.

William, though, is apparently more concerned with keeping in contact with girlfriend Kate Middleton. According to the Mail, the Prince is spending time pondering what he should say in his love letters to Kate, a source claiming: "They write to each other at least once a week. Wills spends hours deliberating over what to say."

January 15, 2006

He's set to over take Harry after Sandhurst triumphs
ROYAL EXCLUSIVE
By Dean Rousewell Royal Editor http://www.people.co.uk/news/news/tm_objectid=16586582%26method=full%26siteid=93463-name_page.html

CRACKSHOT Prince William is the star recruit at Sandhurst after beating scores of other cadets on the rifle range.

He also left them standing in gruelling cross-country runs.

Senior officers are so impressed with the Top Gun royal after just seven days that they plan to fast-track his training.

It would put him level with younger brother Harry, who started at the Army's elite academy in Berkshire a year ago.

Fellow recruits jokingly dubbed William, 23, His Royal Hot Shot when he showed his skills blasting cut-out figures.

An insider said: "He has made a brilliant start. He got a very high score. William also came first in a four-mile cross-country run on the second day. "It was a surprise even to him because he did not think his stamina was a its best. He also did a long run with a heavy backpack, climbing obstacles, and was in the top two or three."

The source added: "William has done very well on academic tasks as well so there is discussion about him being fast-tracked to a more advanced level of officer training. The top two or three new cadets can be moved on if they impress.

"William is certainly doing that - and he could catch up with Harry."

William's course lasts 44 weeks so in theory he could be in action in Iraq or other hot spots by the end of the year. But that might lead to clashes between Top Brass and the Palace.

Wills - who liked to dress in a Parachute Regiment uniform when he was four - is already popular with other recruits.

But there are snags. He is embarrassed that his short Army haircut exposes his baldspot. For six weeks he won't be able to see girlfriend Kate Middleton.

And he has been sleeping on the floor after 5.30am alarm calls failed to rouse him from bed.

January 10, 2006

The Times
January 09, 2006
SOURCE:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1976651,00.html
By Michael Evans

HAVING shared a romantic farewell with his girlfriend at a champagne party, Prince William said a more formal goodbye to his father yesterday as he prepared for life at Sandhurst. The Prince of Wales, who dropped off his son in the pouring rain at the Royal Military Academy, gave him a manly pat on the arm. With a weak smile for the photographers the young Prince, wearing a red name-badge reading "Wales", reciprocated by patting his father's elbow.

As Prince Charles was driven away his son waved and shouted "Bye Pa" before disappearing inside to learn what miseries the next 12 months hold. His demeanour had been very different at the party thrown by 40 of his closest friends, where Prince William poured his heart out in an impromptu speech about his love for 23-year-old Kate Middleton.

He talked of "my adorable Kate" who would "always" be in his thoughts.

The new regime begins at 6am this morning, when the 23-year-old will be instructed in how to make his own bed, a role normally performed by his servants at Clarence House.

He will speak only when spoken to, and have to get used to taking orders rather than giving them.

Yesterday he looked sanguine as reporters asked what sort of haircut he was expecting and replied "short", running his hand for the last time through his thinning blonde locks. The Prince will also have to learn what it is like to follow in the footsteps of his younger brother: Prince Harry has already done a year at Sandhurst.

The top brass at Sandhurst have promised to protect his privacy better than they did for Prince Harry, whose bedroom was invaded by a tabloid journalist who also carried a fake bomb into the Berkshire academy. Major-General Andrew Ritchie, the Commander of Sandhurst, said: "I regret very much that there were media incursions. At no stage was the security of Prince Harry or any other cadet seriously at risk."

He added: "I would simply say that we have taken certain steps since then".

Prince William's arrival represents something of a publicity coup for the Army as this is the first time that two senior members of the Royal Family will be present at the same time.

Most other men in the Royal Family have chosen the Royal Navy, as the senior of the three services.

"Having both Prince William and Prince Harry at Sandhurst is a particular privilege, but they will have little contact with each other because they will be too busy, and Prince Harry has already completed two terms," General Ritchie said.

He gave a talk to the parents of all the 275 new officer cadets while their sons and daughters were shown to their rooms, promising that they would be well cared for but that life will be tough. No doubt Prince William's brother will have filled him in.

THE REGIME

Up at 6am every day
No relief or time off for the first five weeks
Banned from seeing his girlfriend, Kate Middleton, for five weeks
He will be responsible for polishing his boots and ironing his trousers
The 44-week course starts with intensive drill sessions and tough physical training
First term includes basic leadership skills and soldiering

January 8, 2006

Prince William has arrived at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in Surrey where he will begin his army career.

The 23-year-old, who is second in line to the throne, is the most senior royal in recent history to train there.

Prince Charles accompanied his son to the elite military academy, where William's younger brother Harry is half-way through officer training.

Prince William passed his Regular Commissions Board (RCB) to gain entry to the college, last October.

At the time he said: "I am absolutely delighted to have got over the first hurdle, but I am only too well aware, having spoken so much to Harry, that this is just the beginning.

"I am really looking forward to taking my place alongside all the other cadets at Sandhurst."

On Sunday the academy's commandant, Gen Andrew Ritchie, told BBC News that William's decision to attend was a "great privilege for Sandhurst and the Army".

As a 23-year-old recent graduate, the prince was "very typical of the young men and women joining today", Gen Ritchie added.

"They have been used to working for four hours a day and sleeping for 20, and we reverse that," he joked.

William would be woken at 0600 GMT on Monday and issued with his kit, Gen Ritchie told BBC News.

And, despite sporting a relatively short-back-and-sides on his arrival, the prince "may well receive another haircut" the commandant added.

Deployment

Senior officers and palace officials will have to decide where the King-in-waiting can be deployed.

In an interview in 2004, Prince William - who will eventually become the head of Britain's armed forces - said he did not want to be protected from military life.

"I'd want to go where my men went and I'd want to do what they did," he said.

Prince Harry has said he is looking forward to the fact that as a new recruit his older brother will have to salute him when he arrives.

Capt James Coleby, an officer at Sandhurst, told BBC News the prince would spend his frist five weeks at the academy ironing uniforms, polishing boots and learning basic soldiering skills, including handling weapons.

"The main part of the next five weeks will be training him from what was a civilian to what he is then to become, a basic soldier."

Capt Coleby added: "After five weeks initial training, he then has slightly more freedom."

Asked whether the prince would receive special treatment, Capt Coleby said he would be "treated exactly the same as every other officer cadet here".

January 7, 2006

WILLIAM SPENDS £10,000 ON PARTY
Daily Record

PRINCE William treated his friends to a £10,000 farewell party before joining the Army.

Around 100 close pals attended the bash at the exclusive Kilo bar in London.

Wills, 23, who enrols at Sandhurst military academy tomorrow, hired out the basement bar for the party, which went on until 3am.

The prince also paid for his mates to drink champagne and cocktails all night.

Wills's girl friend Kate Middleton was among the guests, although she arrived and left separately from the prince.

One party-goer said: "It was only William's close friends and he saw it as a chance to say goodbye to everyone before he starts Army life.

"The whole thing was very last-minute, so it was very much a relaxed and civilised night.

"Everyone had a few drinks, but it wasn't as if people were drunk.

"Kate arrived after Wills and left before him but in between, they were very much together."

Wills will not see Kate for the next five weeks, missing her 24th birthday.

Since opening last November, the Kilo bar has become a favouri te with celebrities including Natalie Imbruglia, Kid Rock, Calum Best and Sarah Harding.

January 2, 2006

He wanted to join the Navy not the Army, and would rather be a farmer than King. So how will William cope with Sandhurst?
by Rebecca English and Victoria Moore
Daily Mail
2nd January 2006

BETWEEN the formal lunches and days out shooting at Sandringham this festive season, Prince William and his cousin Beatrice have been sharing a running joke. The second-in-line to the throne has taken to addressing Fergie and Andrew's daughter — herself fifthin-line — as `Queen Bea' because: `That's what you might be one day, because once we're through with Sandhurst me and Harry are going to be Army heroes even if it kills us.'

But how does William really feel about beginning his military career at Sandhurst next Sunday, and the demanding months ahead at the elite military college?

Of late he has asked his brother not to `keep going on about how tough Sandhurst is' for fear that it will put him off. After all, the young Prince's courage has failed him once before, in his first term at St Andrews University, when he threw a right royal tantrum, decided he couldn't bear it and wanted to come home. That time, Kate Middleton — now his girlfriend — was at his side to talk him out of it. When William enrols in Blenheim Company he had better be prepared to survive the course without her help.

So as he puts his kit together — including the ironing board that recruits famously sling under their arm as they trudge across the college's historic quadrangle — he might justly feel nervous about what lies in store.

No surprise then, that unlike Harry, who allowed his arrival to be covered in full, Clarence House has barred everyone save a handful of tame photographers to witness this landmark moment. The first five weeks of the officer training course are notoriously tough and there is no respite. He won't be allowed to leave the site, not even to pop out with Kate for one of the pub lunches the couple so enjoy.

THEN there is Harry, so much more garrulous and gung-ho than his older brother, and who after an initial struggle has taken to military life with gusto. No one likes to be outclassed by a younger brother.

William is also bound to take some stick from the other cadets — especially after all his bluster about wanting to be `just one of the boys', which he followed up by controversially borrowing an RAF jet to take him to collect his Army boots from Sandhurst, so he could `break them in' before starting his course.

And how many of his fellow junior cadets have the eversupportive presence of their own private secretary, namely the much decorated (and greatly respected) former SAS officer Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton? When faced with a problem, William is adept at putting his head in the sand. But the truth is that unlike Harry, who realises that for him Sandhurst is something of a last-chance saloon, the Prince's attitude towards the Army is somewhat reticent, to say the least.

As one friend puts it: `It is common knowledge that William doesn't have any great desire to join the Army, though he accepts he must follow in the footsteps of his family and get some sort of military service under his belt. `He has also been telling mates that, as soon as he's able, he'll be out and about socially at weekends as usual, which suggests that despite Harry's warnings he is not reconciled to the strenuous physical and mental demands that will be made on him.'

Within royal circles, William's reluctant commitment to the armed forces (of which he will be head one day) is seen as symptomatic of the hesitance with which he has always approached his royal duties. As a boy, the future King was very shy and deeply resentful of his position.

Those who know him often fret that the Prince of Wales's determination to protect his elder son, so he can enjoy the kind of life experiences and freedom he himself was denied, has done nothing to help the situation. Once he becomes a full-time royal, William will know exactly what he'll be missing out on. However, to the relief of those at Clarence House whose job it is to smooth and coax and manage royal tempers, there is some cause for hope.

It used to be the case that William had to be more or less dragged to the photo-calls that are part and parcel of royal life `kicking and screaming and throwing tantrums', in the words of a former employee who was once forced to confront the Prince, telling him: `Fine, don't do it. But you go out there and tell them that yourself.'

And that sulky behaviour is far removed from the way the Prince conducts himself now. There are real — and very encouraging — signs that the young man is beginning to accept his lot and to do so with a grace and maturity.

HE MIGHT easily have used Sandhurst as yet another excuse to defer royal responsibility. Instead, he has chosen to take on several patronages, among them Centrepoint (the homeless charity so beloved of his mother) and The Tusk Trust (an African conservation charity). He will also take over from his uncle Andrew as President of the Football Association in May next year. And the way he performed on his inaugural royal tour to New Zealand earlier this year and at a slew of recent photocalls has impressed even the most jaded royal observers.

Like his mother before him, William has an easy way with the public and an ability to project a genuine interest in their lives. And so, very gradually, the Prince is emerging from the protective chrysalis of his student life as an adult royal with his own interests and ideals.

He has already had a very free hand in shaping his future — witness the gap year during which he spent time in Belize and Kenya — and we can reveal that while signing up to Sandhurst might to some have seemed more like a formality than a decision, it was to a rather different service that William very nearly pledged his 20s. `He thought very seriously about joining the Navy, like the Duke of Edinburgh,' says a source. `He is close to his grandfather and admires him. But he didn't relish the idea of being away at sea for months at a time and said he felt the Navy would steal five years from his life.' Perhaps Kate Middleton was a factor in this decision too. After all, it was his father's long absences at sea which allegedly prompted his great love Camilla Shand to turn her attentions to Andrew Parker Bowles.

William has also been taking advice from old Etonian friends who have gone through Sandhurst, and talking about which regiment he might join. Two of his closest friends, Charlie Bowmont and Richard Leigh-Wood, are in the 1st Dragoons. His father has advised him to join which ever regiment makes him happiest, but privately he is keen to keep his elder son and heir off the battlefield, not only because he would be a prize target for any enemy, but also because his presence might endanger those around him. At the moment William favours the Army Air Corps and has talked about the possibility of training as a helicopter pilot, although these plans could change.P> And after that? Friends say that if William were not royal, what he would like in his heart of hearts is to become a gentleman farmer. He relishes the private time he has walking his father's land at Highgrove and loved his work experience at Chatsworth, the stately home owned by his father's friends, the Devonshires.

But reality always intervenes in the young Prince's dreams. `He does grumble that he has to be a productive royal instead of the lounger he could have been had he been born 60 years ago,' says a source. `Of course he is kidding — William is not the kind of young man to waste his life away. But he sometimes jokes, slightly wistfully, that perhaps by the time his turn comes, the monarchy will have been abolished.

`He is certainly very keen for his father to be King — and not just because he knows it will take the heat off him. He believes his father to be a good man who would make a wise and compassionate monarch. He is fiercely proud of the work he does.'

AND what of Kate Middleton? Where does she figure? She might complain to friends that she has to `fit in' with the many demands on her boyfriend's life but, for the time being at least, she seems happy to absorb the strain.

William has been a frequent overnight visitor at the Chelsea flat Kate uses when in London, enjoying the privacy as a couple that they had become accustomed to at St Andrews. And while his being away in the Army will doubtless test her resilience and devotion still further, she has thus far shown a lot of mature understanding of his lot in life. Whether, given the opportunity, she will want to share it further remains to be seen. William has demonstrated that he is not the kind of young man who needs his girlfriend to be always at his side. However, the Mail can reveal that Kate has recently been the recipient of a rather special present. According to friends of the couple, Kate let it slip before Christmas that she was expecting to receive `a very special piece of jewellery — but not an engagement ring' from William as a mark of their `commitment to each other'.

Meanwhile, Sandhurst beckons and while William may be a little nervous, the college staff are on tenterhooks. The security breaches that characterised Harry's first few weeks at the college — including an undercover news reporter with a fake bomb and video camera who wandered around the grounds for eight hours — have made officers extremely jumpy.

Their procedures have now been stepped up to such an extent that even long-standing members of staff whose faces are well-known are being subjected to spotsearches by scores of newly recruited security staff tasked with patrolling several miles of brand new razor wire fencing.

When William walks into Sandhurst's historic Old College next week, he knows the eyes of the world will be upon him. It is up to him to prove that he is up to the challenges that lie ahead.

But Chelsy fears she may not be able to hang on to her prince
By Rebecca English Royal Correspondent
Daily Mail
2nd January 2006

PRINCE Harry's girlfriend Chelsy Davy has admitted she is madly in love but fears their 18-month romance is doomed. The 20-year-old Zimbabwean blonde, currently on holiday with the prince on a paradise island, is said to be particularly concerned about the lack of time they will have together after he graduates from Sandhurst in April. `I love him like mad and everything is so good between us – but I don't know how long we can keep being so far apart,' she told one close friend.

The couple, who met while the 21-year-old prince was travelling in Africa after leaving Eton, have kept their relationship thriving despite the 6,000 miles between them. Harry has openly admitted to friends that Chelsy, who is at university in Cape Town, is his `first true love'.

But according to well-placed sources, she worries that once he joins a regular Army regiment he could be posted anywhere in the world – making it increasingly difficult for them to see each other. She has also revealed her fears that he could be `tainted' by revelations concerning her father Charles, a multi-millionaire businessman, who has been linked with Zimbabwean despot Robert Mugabe.

Mr Davy is a partner in a safari company with Webster Shamu, a leading politician in Mugabe's government, and is one of the few white landowners in the country not to have been affected by the president's brutal land grab policy. `He has been through so much already,' Chelsy said to one friend about Harry. `I just don't want to be the cause of more trouble for him.'

The news that she is having doubts about their relationship is bound to worry Harry – but for now the couple are determined to enjoy their New Year break together on beautiful Bazaruto Island, off Mozambique. It is the second year running that Harry has joined Chelsy and her family at the resort, flying in on Mr Davy's private jet five days ago.

He greeted her father with a warm handshake and her mother Beverly, a former beauty queen, with a bear hug and a gift of a sequined blue sarong. For Chelsy there was a belated Christmas present – a silver bracelet – that she proudly showed off to her family. `Look, it's so beautiful,' she said. Later the prince joined his girlfriend, who wore a skimpy pink bikini and white mini skirt, for a late lunch, holding hands together over the table. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the beach with a rowdy game of volleyball against the resort staff.

That evening Harry changed into a crumpled white shirt for a buffet of dorado fish and grilled prawns. Mr Davy took his place at head of the table with Harry sandwiched between Chelsy and her mother. Asked how things were going for him at Sandhurst, Harry told the group that he loved life at the military academy and could not wait to get back.

Later Chelsy watched adoringly as Harry sat in the resort's bar quaffing cocktails and ordering rounds of Sambuca until 5am. A fellow guest said: `Harry was determined to drink the bar dry but they still only had eyes for each other and were constantly hugging and kissing.'

Even Chelsy's parents joined in the fun, drinking and smoking heavily until the early hours. Ordering yet another round of drinks, Mr Davy remarked: `I say to my kids, do what you want at university. Pass, fail, it doesn't really matter. At some stage you will want to take responsibility for your life – and that's when things become important.'

The rest of Harry's holiday has been spent game fishing with Mr Davy and his son, Shaun, or horsing around in the hotel swimming pool. He and Chelsy, who are sharing a thatched cottage overlooking the sparkling turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, have been inseparable, openly kissing and cuddling – even in front of her parents – and strolling hand-in-hand along the white sandy beach. Their A-frame cabin, which costs around £2,000 a week, has a kingsize canopy bed, sunken bath with room for two and open-air shower.

January 1, 2006

PRINCE William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton has been given a bodyguard after a major review of the security arrangements surrounding the couple.

Clarence House has agreed to pay for two minders to keep watch over Kate after she complained about being “stalked” by foreign paparazzi who, she says, are making her life a misery.

The bodyguards are likely to be retired police officers similar to the unarmed husband-and-wife team who shadowed Camilla Parker Bowles before she married Prince Charles and when she was not yet entitled to Scotland Yard protection at taxpayers’ expense.

The royal security review was launched after the location of Kate’s London flat was disclosed last month. Photographs showing her home were published in the German magazine Das Neue. A red arrow pinpointed where the young couple had been spending nights together.

Senior protection sources said the security review was launched after the magazine’s “grossly irresponsible” move. The 23-year- old prince has not been back to the flat since, it is understood.

The pictures raised questions about intrusion experienced by Kate, his girlfriend of two years.

The same magazine also published a picture of the couple getting into a car outside the flat, after a night together.

A friend of Kate said yesterday: “She was adamant that she didn’t want a bodyguard, and enjoys her freedom – but she has now accepted the inevitable.

“Her life is being made a misery at the moment and she said it is like being stalked 24 hours a day.”

Retired chief superintendent Dai Davies, who was in charge of protecting the Royal Family between 1995 and 1998, said the development was “inevitable and sensible”, given Kate’s increasing closeness to William.

“She has become such an item now, that they must be talking about an engagement. While it would be unprecedented for her to get official Scotland Yard protection before they are married, there’s nothing to stop William providing her with a chauffeur-cum-minder in the same way that Charles did with Camilla.

“Kate enjoys the benefits of police protection when she is with William but it is when she is apart from him that there’s a problem. She is still a security risk in the current climate and has told friends she is being hassled day and night by paparazzi.

“I would imagine her bodyguards will be described as assistants, who will act as chauffeurs but will also do reccies on restaurants she plans to visit with William, find out where the discreet areas are and ways to get the couple out easily.

“They will probably be retired police officers who will liaise closely with William’s royal protection officers.

“ And if people begin making a nuisance of themselves to Kate, they will politely ask them to clear off. The only difference is that unlike regular protection officers they are unarmed and don’t have police powers.”

In the wake of the London bombings, royal security has been at its tightest since the height of the IRA attacks.

William, who starts military training at Sandhurst in the new year, is understood to be furious over the intrusion.

It is understood that the pictures, and the persistent trailing of Kate – who has had media training with his palace officials – are behind his determination to ensure that she can lead a “normal” life.

Sources say William is mindful of the level of media scrutiny suffered by his late mother, Princess Diana.

William is understood to be considering asking lawyers to go to the European Court of Human Rights if the situation worsens, although his father is thought to believe that may not be the wisest option.

According to friends, William believes that if his relationship is to last, he has to protect Kate from excessively intrusive photographers.

It is understood that the prince had a share in the decision in October to send a solicitor’s letter to newspapers, asking that details of her private life remain private.

The letter also questioned whether some photographers had breached Press Complaints Commission guidelines.

1- Not stated. “Prince Harry joins Household Calvary.” Hello Magazine 25 January 2006: Royalty and statesmen. 25 January 2006. < http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2006/01/25/princeharry/ >
2- Rebecca English. “Cavalryman Harry could be sent to Iraq next year.” Daily Mail 21 January 2006. 21 January 2006. < http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3.asp?DOCID=1G1:141148011&ctrlInfo=Round20%3AProd%3ADOC%3AResult&ao= >
3- Dean Rousewell. “Top Gunwills [sic] Isstar [sic] Recruit.” The People15 January 2006: news. 15 January 2006. < http://www.people.co.uk/news/news/tm_objectid=16586582%26method=full%26siteid=93463-name_page.html >
4- Michael Evans. “A farewell kiss, and officer cadet Wales reports for duty.” Times Online 9 January 2006: Britian. 10 January 2006 < http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1976651,00.html >
5- Not stated. “William beginning military career.” BBC News 8 January 2006. 8 January 2006. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4590508.stm >
6- Rebecca English and Victoria Moore. “His Royal Reluctance.” Daily Mail 2 January 2006. 17 August 2006. < http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3.asp?DOCID=1G1:140425721&ctrlInfo=Round20%3AProd%3ADOC%3AResult&ao= >
7- Rebecca English. “I’m Mad about Harry.” Daily Mail 2 January 2006. 16 August 2006. < http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3.asp?DOCID=1G1:140425699&ctrlInfo=Round20%3AProd%3ADOC%3AResult&ao= >