PRINCE William is to serve with the Royal Air Force at RAF Linton-on-Ouse near York, The Press has learned.

In preparation for the time he will be King and head of the armed forces, the Prince will learn to fly at the air base next year during a four month attachment to the RAF.

Later on in the year, he will serve on attachment with the Royal Navy in a scheme designed to familiarise the heir to the throne with the structures, capabilities and ethos of the services.

A spokesman from RAF Linton-on-Ouse could not confirm or deny the placement, saying that all media inquiries were being dealt with by Clarence House.

But sources have confirmed to The Press that the 25-year-old Prince will join RAF Linton-on-Ouse from February next year, probably after spending time at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, which is the RAF's training college.

When contacted by The Press, Clarence House refused to say where the Prince will be deployed. A spokesman would only say that the Prince was following in his father's footsteps and his time with the RAF would allow him to realise a lifelong ambition to become a pilot. He will be trained to fly fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

A Clarence House spokesman said: "He will be able to share the working lives of airmen and sailors, and to make comparisons with his own experience to date as an army officer.

"His time with the RAF will also allow him to realise a lifetime ambition to learn to fly."

RAF Linton-on-Ouse has a proud history and was a bomber base during the war and has been commanded by Sir Arthur Harris, better known as Bomber Harris, and Group Captain Leonard Cheshire.

It currently has around 250 military staff on the site and provides initial training in the Tucano plane to future fast jet pilots for the RAF and Royal Navy who then go on to advanced training at RAF Valley in Anglesey.

William's two secondments follow a year in the Blues and Royals, one of the two regiments that form the Household Cavalry. During this period he successfully passed an intensive, specialist armoured reconnaissance troop leaders course at Bovington in Dorset.

For the majority of this year, though, the Prince has been experiencing regimental life in the Household Cavalry, where as a Cornet - or Second Lieutenant - he commands a troop of four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles, crewed by 12 men.

Prince Charles earned "wings" in 1971 when he trained to fly jets at RAF Cranwell. During his secondment with the Royal Navy, he commanded the minesweeper HMS Bronington.