Last year, I became obsessed with Prince William’s schemes to avoid the royal work he so loathed. He will literally do anything else besides his princely duties. He’s already spent years barely fulfilling his RAF duties, he’s taken a second gap year, done a “bespoke Cambridge program” and his current scheme involves becoming an air ambulance pilot with the East Anglia Air Service.

We were told last year that William had worked out a particular scheme in which the Air Service would create a position for William (out of thin air) and pay him £40,000, which he would then donate to charity. This position takes a lot of time to prepare for, and William has to complete a long series of exams to fulfill the requirements for the job. Allegedly, that’s what he’s been doing since December. That’s the explanation for why he hasn’t made any public appearances in two months, not even to come out to the BAFTAs (he’s president of BAFTA). But of course, he could still get away for two weeks to Mustique, but nevermind about that. Anyway, the story was that William would begin with the East Anglia Air Service in the spring. Not so much.

Prince William will start flying as an air ambulance pilot in the summer. He has been taking exams in preparation for his new role with East Anglia Air Service. It had already been announced that William would join the service, based at Cambridge Airport, in spring – but now it’s been revealed that he won’t actually be operational until a few months later.

The pilot-Prince will welcome a few months breathing space as he will have to juggle his new job with a second baby. The Duchess of Cambridge, née Kate Middleton, is expecting a brother or sister for Prince George in mid-April.

He is expected to donate his £40,000 a year salary to charity. A typical day will involve an eight-hour shift starting at 7am or the follow-on night shift from 4.30pm to 1am. Crews usually deal with five call outs a day but can fly up to ten flights in one shift. The Prince will have four days on followed by four days off. The service operates two helicopters out of Cambridge and Norwich airports which are both within 50 miles of the couple’s new home Anmer Hall.

Aviation consultant Gerry Hermer said:”The Prince’s job will be to react to 999 calls as required by ambulance control. He will be deployed in any emergency medical situation where using a helicopter will be in the best interests of the patient. He is already a qualified professional pilot and the main difference between this and his previous role is there will be less flying over sea and the helicopter will not be equipped with a winch.”

He added: “He will also be dealing with more injured people than he is perhaps used to. In some cases this can be quite distressing but I’m sure he is well equipped to cope with that. Ultimately he will be part of a crew and will sit with them all day so they are likely to become very close.”

[From Hello]

I’ve seen some people mention that William might have to fly with his security personnel, or at least one bodyguard or something like that? How in the world is that going to work? I have no idea. I have to wonder if this scheme really was all William hoped for, or whether this whole thing is turning out to be just as tedious as his “royal work.” And I wonder why the change from spring to summer – is William having problems passing all of his exams? Or did he just decide to take his time with all of his pilot preparations? He can’t be expected to change his holiday schedule, after all.

Photos courtesy of WENN.