To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, columns 887-88W, on His Royal Highness Prince William, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of training His Royal Highness Prince William as a pilot. (202762)

No specific calculation has been made of the individual cost of HRH Prince William’s flying training. However it is unlikely to exceed that of equivalent training undertaken by other trainees, given that basic flight training covers a series of set elements.

The cost of providing basic flying training for the RAF is detailed in the following table.