Prince William works machinegun as he joins 1st Battalion Welsh Guards for live firing excercise

Royal action man Prince William donned combats to take part in a live firing exercise yesterday on Salisbury Plain.

He returned to his Army roots as he joined the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in his role as colonel of the regiment.

He shot a sniper’s rifle and a machine gun — successfully hitting targets each time — as well as taking part in drone reconnaissance and mortar firing.

For the past two years the battalion has led at key ceremonial events, including Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and the King’s coronation.

But they are now transitioning back to “field duties” and William’s visit was designed to see how its soldiers have been dealing with the change in pace, particularly its specialist weapons capabilities.

While he was initially handed a pair of binoculars to view the action, the Prince of Wales needed no second invitation to get stuck in.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I’m just glad you have got nice weather for it, given the weekend.”

The prince — who was commissioned at Sandhurst in 2006 and joined the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals) as a tank troop commander — was handed a British-made .338 calibre sniper rifle.

The weapon’s longest confirmed “kill” is more than a mile and a half (2.4km). He spent a few moments lining up the sight before releasing the trigger, sending up a puff of smoke and air.

Afterwards he said: “I really enjoyed that. I see you guys have got a lot of great things coming up, that’s good.”

Chatting to the six-strong sniper team, who cannot be identified for security reasons but have operated in Afghanistan, William said: “Good to be back in green? It’s good to get out of ceremonial, isn’t it?

“You guys have done more than your fair share of that, I’m sorry. It’s been fairly busy this year. You’ve only got a few more days. I’m going to make sure my father doesn’t squeeze in too many more moments!”

The royal was also invited to join a group firing 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs). “That sounds awesome,” he said.

He asked the men whether they got enough time off to spend with their families.

“Don’t worry, he’s too far away, he can’t hear you,” the prince said, jerking his head back towards their commanding officer, prompting guffaws of laughter.

This time William — who was also wearing ear defenders — lay down on his stomach and rattled off a belt of 200 rounds. And he was even offered the chance to fly one of the battalion’s £7,500 ($14,500) drones which, he was told, are “transforming” warfare.

William held up the drone as it took off and then grabbed the controls. “I bet there’s a lot of paperwork on this,” he joked.

The machine gun platoon commander said the gun fired by William was a “staple” weapon and creates a “beating zone”, suppressing the enemy and enabling troops to move forwards.

“He did really well. He fired a full belt, 200 rounds,” he said. “I’m sure he would have done something like this before.

“It is very special to have him as our colonel.

“The guys love it (the ceremonial). But they are glad to come off ‘the blue line’ and get back to ‘green soldiering’.”