Military service by British royalty

Many members of the British royal family have seen service in the British Armed Forces or other Commonwealth militaries, and others hold honorary ranks or positions. This is a list detailing formal military service by members of the British royal family.

There is also a list of military titles, service appointments, and various job titles within the royal family, which is listed below. These roles are honorary and may, or may not, also be held by Royals who are ex-military or serving military persons.

For example, Princess Anne, whilst not having any military service, holds many ranks and roles within the British Armed Forces.

List

The honorary ranks and titles are included in a separate column. The "rank whilst active" column dictates the rank worn and held whilst the person was serving with the armed forces and the "current rank worn" column denotes any rank worn currently (including honorary rank and promotions). Members of the royal family receive regular promotions even after their active service has ended.

Key

A number of abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms are used, to save space:

Living members of the royal family

Individuals are sorted by the earliest year of service.

Deceased members of the royal family

Individuals are sorted by their earliest year of service.

Notes

Medals that are shown in the "Medals" column, generally only include awards that include a medal ribbon that is worn in uniform, as opposed to some decorations which may be represented by other means. Click or tap on the ribbon to see the name and details.
Ranks that are shown in the "Rank whilst active" column are generally the highest rank achieved by the royal. Rank achieved later (i.e. after retirement from active service and movement to reserve list) is displayed in the "Current rank worn" column.
Rank is received and awarded by members of the Royal Family in generally two ways:

They receive a regular commission after undergoing officer training with one of the Armed Services at their respective establishments; (Britannia Royal Naval College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Royal Air Force College Cranwell).
They are appointed to an honorary rank, either in addition to their regular rank or instead of, if they are not actively serving officers.

N.B. Upon leaving active service, royal members are generally promoted to the rank they would have received, if they had stayed in the Armed Services.

Ranks and roles held by members of the royal family with no military service (honorary ranks)

These members of the royal family hold various honorary ranks within the British Armed Forces although having not served in the military before. Listed below are only those of the British military, but there are many more held throughout the Commonwealth.

These may include:

Royal Colonel - an appointment made by the Monarch, to appointment of Colonel-in-Chief or Colonel of a regiment
Honorary Air Commodore-in-Chief and Honorary Air Commodores for the Royal Air Force
Honorary Commodore-in-Chief for the Royal Navy.

Military service of English monarchs

A few English monarchs came to the throne from other countries and served in the armies of their home country. A few served in other armies during their exile.

References