Prince William Becomes Colonel-in-Chief of Prince Harry's Former Army Unit in Royal Military Titles Reshuffling

King Charles just announced new military appointments for Prince William, Queen Camilla, Princess Kate and more

King Charles announced new military appointments for the royal family on Friday — and one of Prince William's new titles has a strong connection to Prince Harry.

The King, 74, bestowed three new military appointments to his eldest son and heir: Colonel-in-Chief of the Mercian Regiment, Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of Royal Air Force Valley — where he served as a helicopter pilot with the Royal Air Force's Search and Rescue Force.

As Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, Prince William, 41, is now a leader of his brother Prince Harry's former unit. Harry, 38, passed his Army Air Corps "Grading" and Pilot’s Selection Board interview in 2008 before training as an Army Air Corps pilot in 2009, according to the royal family's website.

"On successful completion of that Army Pilots Course, Prince Harry was selected to train on the Apache Attack Helicopter," the Duke of Sussex's bio says. "On the same day, it was announced that Prince Harry received his provisional wings from his father," as Charles was Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps at the time.

Prince Harry undertook two tours of Afghanistan — as a Forward Air Controller from 2007 to 2008 and as an Apache Pilot from 2012 to 2013. During his time in the unit, he qualified as an Apache Aircraft Commander and was promoted to the rank of Captain in 2011.

Related: Royal Family Removes Prince Harry's 'His Royal Highness' Title References from Website

Prince Harry was stripped of his three honorary military titles (Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of Royal Air Force Honington and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command) after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped back from their senior royal roles in March 2020. The titles reverted to the crown.

At Queen Elizabeth's funeral in September, many members of the royal family sported military uniforms but Prince Harry wore a suit.

A spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex told PEOPLE in a statement, "His decade of military service is not determined by the uniform he wears, and we respectfully ask that focus remain on the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II."

An exception was made when Queen Elizabeth's eight grandchildren stood a symbolic vigil at her coffin during her lying-in-state. Harry wore his military uniform "at the King's request," according to a palace source.

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In Friday's announcement of the new military appointments for the working members of the royal family, Kate Middleton received three new titles from King Charles. The couple shared a video on their joint social media pages announcing the new titles.

"An honour to serve our new military affiliations across the @royalnavy @britisharmy and @royalairforceuk 🎖️" their team captioned the posts.

The Princess of Wales, 41, is now the Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm, Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of Royal Air Force Coningsby.

The last appointment is especially sentimental for Princess Kate, as one of her grandfathers served in the Royal Air Force.

The Princess of Wales takes over the role of Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm from Prince Andrew, who held the role until last year. In January 2022, Queen Elizabeth stripped her second son of his military titles and patronages after he was accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an alleged victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew has denied any wrongdoing and settled with Giuffre out of court in February 2022.

Related: Kate Middleton Receives New Titles from King Charles — with a Tie to Her Grandfather

Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh also picked up one of Prince Andrew's former military affiliations. Prince Edward's wife is now Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Irish Regiment.

Queen Camilla previously took over as Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Lancers (the regiment her late father, Major Bruce Shand, served with during World War II) and Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, other roles that previously belonged to Prince Andrew.

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