They are the military who are there to help the royals carry out their duties.

Prince William will lose his longtime steed, Commander Rob Dixon, who is returning to the Royal Navy after four years of service with the heir to the throne.

He will be replaced by Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds, who is seconded from the Royal Air Force and, like his boss, has a beard.

There are around six equeries working for the royal household at a time and they are recruited from the Armed Forces to assist key members of the monarchy on public engagements.

Read on to find out more about the ‘military hunks’ the royals can’t seem to live without.

Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds

Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds will assist William on secondment from 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.

He revealed earlier this month during a visit to Wales Air Ambulance headquarters how he would love to make a “comeback” 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.

Lieutenant Commander Robert Dixon

After spending more than two decades in the Royal Navy, Commander Robert Dixon joined Prince William in September 2020.

He has previously worked as a helicopter instructor and piloted one of the Navy’s most powerful helicopters – a Wildcat.

A source previously said Lieutenant Commander Dixon was a “safe” member of the royal family, adding: “He and William work really well together, not least because they’re both helicopter nuts.”

He has appeared by the Prince of Wales’ side at a number of events and appears to share his boss’s passion for sport.

The officer was seen cheering with William at the European Championships earlier this year.

Lieutenant Commander Dixon was there in September 2022 when William attended a vigil by his late grandmother’s coffin as it lay in state in Westminster Hall.

He was also present at the coronation of King Charles last May.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Thompson

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Thompson was one of the late Queen Elizabeth’s most senior official bodyguards.

The officer, who is affectionately known as ‘Johnny’, attracted swooning royal fans and was dubbed ‘the hot equerry’ on social media but reportedly did not enjoy the attention.

He featured prominently after the Queen’s passing and was seen in the procession as the monarch’s coffin was escorted from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for those who lay in state.

Lieutenant Colonel Thompson continued to assist King Charles with his daily duties and engagements and proudly stood by his side during the coronation ceremony.

However, he switched to a less public role earlier this year and now helps the monarch with her private affairs.

He joined the army in 2006 and studied at Aberystwyth University, according to his LinkedIn.

Major Oliver Plunket

Camilla’s youthful equerry was only in his late 20s when he was appointed in November 2022.

Major Oliver Plunket was handpicked by the Queen Consort from The Rifles – a regiment of which she has been Colonel since 2020.

He first caught the public eye during the king’s coronation last year, when he was seen near Charles in full military regalia at Westminster Abbey and was dubbed “the hot guy”.

He also won admirers at the Princess of Wales carol service in Westminster in 2022.

Before working for the royal household, 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 rock fall on his adventure.

Lieutenant Colonel Tom White

The dashing ex-Royal Marines officer served the Queen from 2020 until her 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 of the elite commando force, with a source previously describing him as one of the best officers they had ever met.

Lt Col White is also known as a war hero after he helped avert tragedy in Afghanistan in 2009 as a member of 42 Commando, when he played a role in defusing a booby trap in a school set up by the Taliban.

He was just 22 at the time of the brave act and said: ‘It turns your stomach to think what could have happened if we hadn’t found the bombs.

“These people knew they could have blown a lot of kids sky high — and they didn’t care.”

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 dark horse of the royal household and trained at Sandhurst – a military academy that many royals including Prince William and Harry have also attended.

Before Lt Col Twumasi-Ankrah was appointed, he told The Sunday Times that as a young child he used to watch Trooping the Color with fascination.

He said: ‘I would never have imagined that one day I would command the regiment that I had fallen in love with.

“From what I’ve seen in Britain, our cultures are really mixing 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.

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, equestrian Mark Phillips, who is the father of her two children – Zara and Peter.

Sir Tim maintained 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 Color ceremony in 2022.