Prince Harry has ‘joined a helicopter club in California’ so he can take Meghan and Archie on trips

Prince Harry has reportedly joined a helicopter club in California in order to take Meghan Markle and his son Archie out on family trips.

The Duke of Sussex, 36, needs to practice flying in order to to keep his helicopter licence current, a royal insider told the Sun.

In 2013, the royal qualified as an Apache helicopter commander while serving in the Regiment Army Air Corps but left the military less than a year later to pursue charity work.

‘He’s very proud of that licence; he worked hard to get first the basic and then the Apache.

‘He’s hardly likely to be recalled for military service in England again but he wants to keep the hours up for personal use, so he and Meghan can just take off for expeditions if they want to,’ the friend of Harry told the paper.  

While it is believed Harry doesn’t own his own helicopter yet, the source added that there will be ‘plenty of rich benefactors’ who would be happy to lend Harry their choppers because they would ‘love the royal association’. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior royals in March and moved to Vancouver Island, Canada.

They spent some time in 39-year-old Meghan’s native Los Angeles before moving to Santa Barbara, California, where they are currently living in an £11million mansion with son Archie, one. 

Last month, the couple signed a £112million Netflix deal that ‘could include a documentary on Princess Diana’. 

An insider told The Mirror the documentary will focus on Diana’s family history and heritage, but voiced fears over it widening the rift with brother William.

Rumours of Harry and Meghan seeking to gain a foothold in Hollywood have run rampant ever since the couple announced their plans to quit as senior royals, seek financial independence and move to North America in January.

Meghan’s first post-Megxit job in showbiz was as a narrator of the Disney Plus docuseries Elephants, which came out in April.

The Los Angeles native nabbed the job after Harry bragged about her voiceover skills to Disney chairman Bob Iger at the London premiere of The Lion King live action remake last summer.

Her fee for the project went entirely to the Elephants Without Borders charity – an organisation dedicated to conserving wildlife and helps protect the animals from poaching.

Harry followed in her footsteps by appearing in a new Netflix documentary about about the Paralympic Games called Rising Phoenix, which aired on August 26.

In 2014, Harry confessed he missed his role as an Apache helicopter pilot and would like to return to flying in the future. 

The Prince loved his five-month posting to Afghanistan in winter 2012-13 where he served as a top gun co-pilot, often providing top cover for medical evacuations. But he did not enjoy the social side of life on base at Wattisham, Suffolk.

As an Apache pilot, it was his regular job to provide cover from above as the teams retrieved casualties from the battlefield, often under enemy fire.