Princes William and Harry set up own office

updated 7:05 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2009

LONDON - Princes William and Harry said Tuesday they have been granted their own royal household by their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Household doesn't mean a dwelling; it means staff who support royal family members in their public duties and private lives.

The two princes will share one household with three main staff members, supported by a small team. Sir David Manning, the former British ambassador to Washington, will work as a part-time adviser to the princes.

Previously, William and Harry's affairs had been handled by the office of their father, Prince Charles, at Clarence House in central London. But the brothers' new household released a statement — complete with their own "cyphers," or logos at the top — announcing that they have established their own office at nearby St. James's Palace to look after their public, military and charitable activities.

William's cypher is red — the same color used by his father and grandmother — and consists of a "W" topped with a coronet. Harry's cypher is similar, but has an "H" and is blue — a similar shade to that used by his mother Diana, the Princess of Wales. Diana died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.

William, 26, is currently training as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot with the Royal Air Force. This month, Harry, 24, is to begin two-and-a-half years of training to fly British army helicopters.

Other royals with their own households include the queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, and their other children, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and the Duke of Kent.

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