Falkland Islands

Will's Falklands posting not provocative

The Chief of the Defence Staff today denied sending the Duke of Cambridge to the Falkland Islands was designed to provoke Argentina.

William, a Flight Lieutenant with the RAF, will deploy to the remote outcrop in the South Atlantic for six weeks next year to fly search and rescue helicopter missions.

But Argentine official Sebastian Brugo Marco said the country could not ignore the "political" implications of his move, which comes shortly before the 30th anniversary of Argentina's defeat in the Falklands, to which it lays claim and calls Las Malvinas.

Mr Marco said: "It is one more provocative act that shows Britain's military presence in a zone of peace where there is no armed conflict."

Britain's armed forces' chief General Sir David Richards today dismissed the claims, saying: "I can absolutely tell you it wasn't and isn't designed to be."

He stressed William's deployment was routine for an RAF Sea King pilot, pointing out Prince Harry was sent to Afghanistan as a forward air controller in 2008.

Gen Richards said: "Prince William, along with his brother Prince Harry, is a regular member of the armed forces and they do their stint in the roster that comes all our ways."

He told Sky News' Murnaghan programme relations between the UK and Argentina were "pretty constructive" and better today than when war broke out in 1982.

He added: "There has been no warlike talk from Argentina.

"They clearly disagree with us over the Falkland Islands but we're all determined not to repeat the mistakes of 1982.

"It's a democratically elected government, it's not a military dictatorship looking for another way of solving their domestic problems by diverting attention.

"It just isn't in the same bracket as it was back then and we're delighted that he's going out there to do a very, very important and challenging job."

William, who attended today's Remembrance service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, will follow in the footsteps of his uncle, the Duke of York, who served during the Falklands conflict as a Sea King helicopter pilot.

Based at RAF Valley in Anglesey, north Wales, the Duke of Cambridge qualified as an RAF Search and Rescue Force (Sarf) helicopter co-pilot last September.

In recent months he has been intensifying his work with the aim of qualifying for a captaincy.

The experience he will gain in the South Atlantic and the flying hours he will notch up answering emergency calls will help him achieve his goal.

William will not carry out any royal engagements while on the overseas territory and if his deployment coincides with any events commemorating the 1982 conflict, it is unlikely he will attend in an official capacity.

His dates have also been chosen to avoid clashing with the Queen's 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

PICTURE: Ministry of Defence