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

Prince William is set to lose his long-serving equerry, Commander Rob Dixon, who is heading back 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 equerries working for the Royal Household at a time and they are recruited from the Armed Forces to assist key members of the monarchy at public engagements. 

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

Lieutenant Commander Robert Dixon (far right) cheering with Prince William at a Euros game earlier this year

Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds

Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds will assist William whilst on secondment from the Royal Air Force, taking over from his predecessor Commander Dixon. 

Like the Prince of Wales, he seems to share a passion for flying and is a trained helicopter pilot. 

William is a former RAF search and rescue pilot and previously served the East Anglia Air Ambulance Service from 2015 to 2017.

He revealed earlier this month during a visit to the 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, though the trained helicopter pilot’s facial hair is thicker and darker. 

Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds will assist William whilst on secondment from the Royal Air Force 

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

A source previously said how Lieutenant Commander Dixon was a ‘confident’ member of the royal household and added: ‘He and William work really well together, not least because they are both helicopter nuts.’

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

The officer was spotted cheering with William at the Euros 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 King Charles’ Coronation last May. 

Lt Cdr Robert Dixon with the Princess of Wales at the Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey in 2022

The former helicopter instructor accompanying 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, 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 had a prominent role after the Queen passed away and was seen in the procession when the monarch’s coffin was escorted from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the lying in state.

Lieutenant Colonel Thompson went on to assist King Charles with his daily duties and engagements and proudly stood beside him during the Coronation ceremony.

However, he changed to a less public role earlier this year and now aids the monarch with his private affairs.

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

Lt Col Jonathan ‘Johnny’ Thompson accompanying the late Queen Elizabeth as she inspects troops at the gates of Balmoral in 2018

The army official with Prince George at the King’s Coronation last year 

Lt Col Thompson following the King at his Coronation last year 

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 she has been colonel-in-chief of since 2020. 

He first caught the public’s eye during the King’s Coronation last year, when he was seen near Charles in full military regalia in Westminster Abbey and was dubbed ‘the hot guy’.

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

Before working for the Royal Household he rode 24,500 miles on a motorbike from Argentina to Alaska to raise money for charity. 

He collected £100,000 for wounded servicemen and even survived a rockfall on his adventure. 

Major Oliver Plunket accompanying Camilla as she visits the 95th Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in November last year

The kinsman of the 9th Lord Plunket arriving for a Christmas carol service with the Duke of Gloucester in December 2022

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 with the elite commando force, with one source previously describing him as one of the best officers they had ever met.

Lieutenant Colonel 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 an explosive booby trap in a school that the Taliban had rigged up.

He was only 22 years old 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 Tom White with the Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2021

Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah

Ghanaian-born Lieutenant Col 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 Royal Household’s first black equerry and trained at Sandhurst – a military academy many royals including Prince William and Harry have also attended.

Before being appointed, Lieutenant Colonel Twumasi-Ankrah told The Sunday Times that as a young child he used to watch Trooping the Colour with fascination.

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

‘From what I’ve seen in the UK, our cultures really do mix and if I’m not a good example of that I really don’t know what is.’

The military official moved to the UK from Ghana with his parents in 1982. 

Lt Col Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah placing a bouquet of flowers on the Unknown Warrior’s grave on behalf of the Queen in 2020

Ghanaian-born Lt Col 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 Royal Household’s first black equerry and trained at Sandhurst

Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence 

Though now married to Princess Anne, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence began his royal life in 1986 when he became an equerry for 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 to 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 Royal Family members attending the Christmas Day church service in Sandringham last year