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They are the military who are there to help the royalty carry out their duties.
Prince William is set to lose his long-serving aide-de-camp, Commander Rob Dixon, who is returning to the Royal Navy after four years of service to the heir to the throne.
He will be replaced by Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds, who is on secondment from the Royal Air Force and, like his boss, sports a beard.
There are around six squires working for the Royal Household at any one time and they are recruited from the Armed Forces to assist key members of the monarchy with public engagements.
Read on to find out more about the ‘military heartthrobs’ that royalty can’t seem to live without.
Lieutenant Commander Robert Dixon (far right) cheering on Prince William at a Euro match earlier this year
Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds
Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds will assist William during his time in the Royal Air Force, taking over from his predecessor, Commander Dixon.
Like the Prince of Wales, he appears to share a passion for flying and is a trained helicopter pilot.
William is a former RAF Search and Rescue pilot and previously served with the East Anglia Air Ambulance Service from 2015 to 2017.
Earlier this month, during a visit to the headquarters of the Welsh Air Ambulance, he revealed he would love to “come back” and fly a helicopter again.
Like Prince William, Squadron Leader Reynolds has a beard, although the trained helicopter pilot’s facial hair is thicker and darker.
Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds will assist William during his Royal Air Force secondment.
Lieutenant Commander Robert Dixon
After spending more than two decades in the Royal Navy, Lieutenant Commander Robert Dixon joined Prince William in September 2020.
He previously served as a helicopter instructor and piloted one of the Navy’s most powerful helicopters, a Wildcat.
A source previously said Lt Cdr Dixon was a “safe” member of the royal household, adding: “He and William work really well together, especially as they are both helicopter mad.”
She has appeared alongside the Prince of Wales at a variety of events and appears to share her boss’s passion for sport.
The officer was seen cheering on William at the Euros earlier this year.
Lieutenant Commander Dixon was there in September 2022 when William attended a vigil beside his late grandmother’s coffin as she lay in state in Westminster Hall.
He was also present at the coronation of King Charles last May.
Lieutenant Commander Robert Dixon with The Princess of Wales at the carol service at Westminster Abbey in 2022
The former helicopter instructor who accompanied Kate and William to a charity polo cup in 2022
Commander Dixon with Prince William at RAF Coningsby in 2022
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Thompson
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Thompson was one of the late Queen Elizabeth’s most senior official bodyguards.
The officer, affectionately known as “Johnny”, attracted royal fans and was dubbed “the sexy gentleman” on social media, but reportedly did not enjoy the attention.
He played a prominent role after the Queen’s death and was seen in the procession when the monarch’s coffin was escorted from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for her wake.
Lieutenant Colonel Thompson continued to assist King Charles with his daily duties and commitments and stood proudly at his side during the coronation ceremony.
However, earlier this year she moved into a less public role and now assists the monarch with his private affairs.
He joined the army in 2006 and studied at Aberystwyth University, according to his LinkedIn.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan “Johnny” Thompson accompanies the late Queen Elizabeth as she inspects troops at the gates of Balmoral in 2018
The army officer with Prince George at the king’s coronation last year.
Lieutenant Colonel Thompson followed the King at his coronation last year.
Major Oliver Plunket
Camilla’s young squire was in his early twenties when he was appointed in November 2022.
Major Oliver Plunket was personally selected by The Queen Consort for The Rifles, a regiment of which he has been Colonel-in-Chief since 2020.
He first came to public attention during the king’s coronation last year, when he was seen standing near Charles in full military regalia at Westminster Abbey and was dubbed “the sexy boy”.
She also won admirers at the Princess of Wales’s carol service at Westminster in 2022.
Before working for the Royal Family, he rode 24,500 miles on a motorcycle from Argentina to Alaska to raise money for charity.
He raised £100,000 for wounded servicemen and even survived a rockfall on his adventure.
Major Oliver Plunket accompanies Camilla on her visit to the 95th Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in November last year.
The 9th Lord Plunket’s relative arrives for a carol service with the Duke of Gloucester in December 2022
Lieutenant Colonel Tom White
The handsome former Royal Marines officer served the Queen from 2020 until his death and is now Princess Kate’s private secretary.
Before working for the Royals, he joined the Royal Marines in 2007 and has extensive experience with the elite commando force – one source previously described him as one of the best officers they had ever met.
Lt Col White is also known as a war hero after helping avert tragedy in Afghanistan in 2009 as a member of 42 Commando, when he played a role in defusing a booby trap at a school that the Taliban had set up.
He was just 22 at the time of the brave act and said: ‘It makes your stomach turn to think what might have happened if we hadn’t found the bombs.
‘These people knew they could have blown up a lot of children, and they didn’t care.’
Lieutenant Colonel Tom White with the Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2021
Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah
Ghanaian-born Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah was the late Queen’s equerry from 2018 to 2020 and was personally chosen by her.
The Afghanistan war veteran was the first black equerry to the Royal Household and trained at Sandhurst, a military academy also attended by many royals including Princes William and Harry.
Before being appointed, Lt Col Twumasi-Ankrah told The Sunday Times that as a child he used to watch Trooping the Colour with fascination.
He said: ‘I would never have imagined that one day I would command the regiment I fell in love with.
“From what I’ve seen in the UK, our cultures really blend together and if I’m not a good example of that, I really don’t know what is.”
The military officer moved to the UK from Ghana with his parents in 1982.
Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah places a bouquet of flowers at the grave of the unknown warrior on behalf of the Queen in 2020
Ghanaian-born Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah was the late Queen’s equerry from 2018 to 2020 and was personally chosen by her.
The Afghanistan war veteran was the first black equerry to the Royal Family and trained at Sandhurst.
Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence
Although now married to Princess Anne, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence began his royal life in 1986 when he became an equerry to the late Queen.
He married Anne in 1992 after she divorced her first husband, jockey Mark Phillips, who is the father of her two children: Zara and Peter.
Sir Tim enjoyed a close relationship with the Queen and was invited to join the family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as part of the Platinum Jubilee Trooping the Colour ceremony in 2022.
Commander Timothy Laurence walking behind the Queen at a commissioning ceremony for HMS Invincible in 1989
Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence with his wife Princess Anne and other members of the royal family attended the Christmas Day service at Sandringham last year.
