Britain's Prince William wants to join his brother, Prince Harry, on the front line in Afghanistan.

The 30-year-old royal - an RAF search and rescue pilot - has asked RAF bosses if he can go out to the war zone to take part in some active service, and military officials are now thought to be trying to grant his wish.

A Whitehall defence source told the Daily Star Sunday newspaper: "The brothers are in touch nearly every day but every time William hears from Harry he is left feeling really envious of all his Afghan adventures and wants to share in the action.

"William is a serving officer and has said he wants to go.

"Although the rule is he cannot be placed in harm's way, they are seeing if they can bring it about before next spring when he has to decide if he's staying on or leaving the Forces to be a full-time royal.

"He could do a secret visit of a week or two if the powers that be would allow it.

"We are not talking bombing the Taliban, more like flying fetch-and-carry missions but he could still be involved."

William is expected to make the decision with his wife Duchess Catherine - who was known as Kate Middleton prior to the couple's nuptials in April 2011 - before the end of the year.

A St James's Palace source said: "The prince has to decide before the end of the year and will make that decision with his wife.

"He surprised us all when he said he wanted to be a search and rescue pilot. It was entirely his own idea. I would not put it past him to come up with something none of us thought of."

William went on a six-week tour of the Falklands earlier this year, but if he goes to Afghanistan he will have to train on Merlin helicopters after they replaced the Sea King choppers last year.