Prince Louis's dream job takes a 'lot of hard work' and he shares this passion with cousin Archie - despite not seeing him in years
The last time we know for sure they met was 2019 but both cousins have inherited their dad's love of flying
Unlike his older brother, Prince Louis's future career isn't quite as clear. He's sixth in the royal line of succession and might not become a full-time working royal, though he seems to have other plans anyway. In 2022 he did some volunteering as part of the Big Help Out initiative and one person asked if he "might want to be a painter" when he's older.
Little Louis' response was quick and clear - "No, a fighter pilot". He doesn't seem to have given up on his dream as the Princess of Wales later described his eagerness to be a pilot when she visited RAF Coningsby in October last year and said she'd warn her children it "takes eight years and a lot of hard work".
Now we've been given a glimpse of Prince Archie from the Sussex family's summer trip to Europe and it suggests he shares his older cousin's passion for aircrafts and flying.
The Duchess of Sussex posted a selection of different snaps from the holiday and in one of them we can see Prince Archie wearing a pilot's hat, sitting in the cockpit of a plane. He's got his hands on the yolk and looks like he's being talked through how everything works by the crew.
They're clearly not in the air, as you can see boxes on the ground through the windscreen but Archie still looks like he's enjoying himself and perhaps Harry and Meghan organised for him to go there as a special treat. Heading into the cockpit is something you'd be more likely to do if you loved the idea of flying.
Both he and Louis are the sons of trained pilots and outside of his military career, Prince William also went on to fly a helicopter with the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
It was his final job before becoming a full-time royal and last year he said that flying was his "happy place".
"I do still fly, yeah - I keep my hours going," he explained at RAF Benson. "When you learn that skill set, you just don't want it to go. I've definitely lost a lot of the skills I had, but I like to keep on top of my flying, keep doing it."
His love of flying has clearly passed to Louis, who was spotted leaning out to the side at Trooping the Colour this year, seemingly to get a better look at the flypast. He could go on to serve in the RAF one day - potentially as a fighter pilot - even if he also carries out royal duties.
Prince Archie is highly unlikely to become a working royal, though depending on residency and other criteria, he could technically serve as well.
The Duke of Sussex isn't known to have flown a helicopter since his time in the army, but he would no doubt be proud of his son if he joins up. Harry recently described one of his jobs as "British Army veteran" on the Joe Mahler Will See You Now podcast and he founded the Invictus Games in 2014.
Even if Louis and Archie don't end up following in their fathers' footsteps, they seem to have developed similar interests whilst living an ocean apart. We don't know when the cousins last saw each other in person but Harry and Meghan moved from the UK in early 2020 when their son wasn't yet a year old.
He and Louis have only ever been pictured together once, at a polo match in July 2019. Maybe one day they'll meet in person again and bond over their mutual love of aircrafts.
