The Prince of Wales has been awarded the highest rank in all three military services by the Queen.

The Queen has appointed Prince Charles honorary five-star rank in all three services to acknowledge his support in her role as Commander-in-Chief.

He becomes a Field Marshal, Admiral of the Fleet and Marshal of the Royal Air Force in the honorary promotion decided by the Queen.

Two members of the royal family currently hold five-star rank – the Duke of Edinburgh in all three services and the Duke of Kent, who is a Field Marshal.

The convention of promoting service chiefs to five-star ranks was stopped after a report in 1995 suggested abolishing them as part of recommendations for financial savings in the armed forces' budget. They are now reserved for special circumstances.

General the Lord Guthrie was the first officer not to be promoted upon appointment as Chief of the Defence staff – a role he held from 1997 to 2001.

He has now been appointed to the honorary rank of Field Marshal.

The appointments coincide with the Queen's Birthday Honours, but a Buckingham Palace spokesman said they are not related.

The honorary promotions will incur no cost to the Ministry of Defence and will not have an impact on the promotion prospects of serving personnel or the honorary appointments of other Members of the Royal Family.

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)