![](https://static.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/09/20/07/pilot1.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=1024)
Prince William has opened up about the “dark moments” working as an air ambulance pilot in a candid interview.
The future King said in an interview with BBC Future website William said, “There are some very dark moments.
"You try not to take it away, but sometimes… it can be quite difficult,” he added.
But William, 34, says he relishes the demands of the job because he feels he is “making a contribution.”
"I really look forward to coming here every day.
"And I love working as a team: that's something that my other job doesn't necessarily do: you are more out there on your own a little bit," he added.
"I want to be a valuable member of the team… at the end of the day (I want to) feel like I have made a difference and a contribution to whatever it is I've done that day," he said.
The prince insisted on finding a civilian job after he completed his tour of duty as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot in 2013.
Piloting an air ambulance was his way of finding a new role for himself outside royal duty and after his active military career ended.
No royal in direct line to the throne had done this previously and had instead devoted themselves to full-time royal duties.
Normally, progression to the throne spend time in the armed services, followed by years of royal duty in support of the monarch until they ascend the throne, just like Prince Charles.
As he explained in an interview earlier this year, while his grandmother remains, "extremely active at the helm of the royal family" and with his father "incredibly busy" with his charities and other activities, William felt that there is "the time and the space to explore other means of doing a worthwhile job".
BBC Future produced the on-line multi-media project about the work of the East Anglian Air Ambulance featuring William, alongside his pilot and clinical colleagues, and patients.
The project uses a series of interviews, various styles of films, written editorial pieces and photography, to tell the story about the work of the air ambulance.
William was happy to be filmed and interviewed alongside his colleagues as a chance to highlight the work of the air ambulance community in a format which can tell the story of the whole team.
'Inside the Trauma Team where Prince William is a Pilot' went live on the BBC website this morning during National Air Ambulance Week.
MORE ABOUT