The royal lobbyist - Prince William

THE most famous search and rescue helicopter pilot is Prince William, who is currently based at RAF Valley in North Wales.

It emerged before Christmas that the second in line to the throne had directly lobbied Prime Minister David Cameron about the future of search and rescue when the two helped lead England's bid for the 2018 World Cup.

Mr Cameron made an oblique reference to the Prince's exchanges when fielding questions on the future of search and rescue during Prime Minister's Questions.

Prince William is understood to be particularly concerned about the possibility that the military may no longer have a role to play in search and rescue and that his base could be one of the ones that ends up being shut.

The Prince took on the search and rescue role to pursue a safe military career.

His fears about the withdrawal of RAF and Royal Navy support for search and rescue have been echoed by MPs across parties who believe it could undermine its effectiveness.

There have also been concerns raised about the length of the proposed contract, which would be for 25 years.

The Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition inherited the privatisation process from Labour.