PRINCE William has been at RNAS Culdrose as he furthers his military training.

But before local lasses' hearts become all of a flutter, we should point out that his visit was an extremely brief one.

The Prince, second in line to the throne, was at Culdrose to take part in survival training.

He is currently serving with the RAF as a search and rescue pilot at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire. A spokesperson for Culdrose, Lt Cmr Ian Mackay, said: "HRH Prince William did visit briefly to take part in survival training.

"He came to Cornwall specifically for that aspect of his training, but his stay had been only a matter of hours."

Even so, the Prince was following in the footsteps of at least one member of his family.

Prince Andrew, now the Duke of York, trained as a Naval helicopter pilot at Culdrose which led to him flying Culdrose-based Sea King helicopters as decoys for Exocet missiles during the Falklands war, among other tasks.

And William's aunt, the Princess Royal, who was appointed patron of the Women's Royal Naval Service, has regularly presented "Wings" to successful trainees at the base.