Prince William says ‘no greater feeling’ than saving lives

UK: Prince William has admitted there is “no greater feeling” than saving someone's life while working as a search and rescue helicopter pilot, in an interview released on Thursday.

The second in line to the British throne, who has been working as a Royal Air Force pilot in Wales since January 2010, said it was stressful but nothing compared to the satisfaction of bringing someone home safe.

“There's no greater feeling than when you've actually done some good and saved someone's life,” William told a BBC TV programme on the emergency service, which is due to be broadcast next week.

“I don't think there's any greater calling in life... to be able to see a son or daughter's face when you bring their mother or father back from the edge of death -- it's quite powerful.” William, 30, began his training as a search and rescue pilot in January 2009, a job which involves flying in dangerous weather conditions to rescue stranded climbers or seamen.

Flight Lieutenant Wales, as he is formally known in the military, qualified as a co-pilot a year later and was promoted to command the crew of four last year.

But his future is uncertain following the privatisation of the search and rescue service, which was announced this week.

William is known to have expressed his concerns about the privatisation plans to Prime Minister David Cameron when they were first mooted.

The prince's tour at RAF Valley was already due to end this year but he has yet to publicly announce his next move.

The prince and his wife, Catherine, are expecting their first child in July. They have a home in Wales as well as in London, enabling them to mix military life with public engagements.

In one rescue followed by the BBC programme, the prince captains an aircraft called to save a boy who has fallen off an old railway bridge and onto rocks.

AFP