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LONDON (AFP) - Prince William, second in line to the British throne, joined his younger brother Harry at the country's elite Sandhurst military academy, after graduating from university last year.
William, elder son of heir to the throne Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, was among more than 270 new recruits joining the academy in the town of Camberley, southwest of London, for 44 weeks of gruelling training.
William, dressed in a grey suit with a blue and red tie, turned up with his father, who had served in the Royal Navy.
Commandant of Sandhurst Major General Andrew Ritchie, who greeted the pair on their arrival, insisted that William would receive no special privileges.
"He will be up early tomorrow (Monday) morning and will then get stuck into military training."
He added: "I can assure you that he will be treated the same as every other cadet. Everyone is judged on merit." Blond-haired William was expected to have his hair cut short, in line with the other recruits.
The 23-year-old prince, who if he one day becomes king will also head the Armed Forces, was following in the footsteps of Harry by joining Sandhurst and becoming Officer Cadet William Wales.
Harry, 21, has been at the academy since May, while William graduated from Saint Andrew's University in Scotland with a degree in geography in June.
The brothers were set to emerge from Sandhurst as lieutenants, though William, thanks to his university education, was likely to enjoy an earlier promotion to captain than his famously party-loving sibling.
Sandhurst, the British equivalent of West Point in the United States or Saint-Cyr officer school in France, is famous for both the broad scope of its curriculum and its demanding discipline.
Past graduates have included the late king Hussein of Jordan, the sultan of Brunei, World War II prime minister Winston Churchill -- and two of Diana's lovers, Dodi Fayed and James Hewitt.
William's entry to Sandhurst means more than a month apart from his girlfriend Kate Middleton, who is 24 on Monday. New recruits are banned from leaving the academy or the first five weeks of training.
British newspapers last week printed pictures of William and Middleton embracing on the slopes at the Klosters ski resort in Switzerland -- the prince's first public kiss with his partner of four years.
At Sandhurst, Officer Cadet Wales will find himself polishing boots, ironing shirts, facing intensive drill sessions and enduring gruelling physical training. He will have to do also all his own laundry.
William will be woken at dawn every day for the first five weeks to face a room inspection, when his equipment will be meticulously checked and must be placed in exactly the right spot. Later in the course he will be allowed some weekends off.
Most recruits to Sandhurst have their own small room with a bed, a sink, a chest of drawers, a cupboard and a desk.
William's father, Charles, did not attend Sandhurst but served in the Royal Navy, flying helicopters. William's grandfather Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was a naval officer on active duty in World War II.
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