The man who will be king

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor (Washington, DC): Finally tonight, we have a bit of a preview of a special program we're airing this coming Friday night on NBC . Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and the man who will be the next king of England , as they say, recently granted us a rare interview and rare access to his private life. We traveled about as far as you can go in the United Kingdom , to the far north of Scotland and the Castle of Mey , the summer home of the grandmother, the Queen Mom , who is -- the home he has now helped to restore. In what you're about to see tonight, I asked the prince about the pressures of having both sons, including an heir to the throne , in the British military , both of them in helicopter units, and one of them, Prince Harry , having already served in Afghanistan . It sounds like the RAF. Could that be one of your sons buzzing us?

Prince CHARLES: No, no, not yet. No, that one isn't, I don't think. There might be -- my sons shouldn't be here today, I don't think.

WILLIAMS: That's right . Both William and Harry are military helicopter pilots. William is with a search and rescue wing of the Royal Air Force . Harry is training on army gunships, and we spoke to him shortly before his first tour in Afghanistan .

Prince HARRY: The closer it gets, the more I sort of think about it. And William and I have sat down and had, you know, a little bit of time to talk about it. And I still sort of need to sit down and talk to my father about it.

WILLIAMS: Their father, of course, worries about both of them. For many years you raised two children as a single parent, and you have both children in the military , which must wear on you.

Prince CHARLES: It certainly did, obviously, when Harry went down to Afghanistan , but he was terribly keen to do so. And it was very difficult for William , my eldest, not to go. But I did say to him, you know, look, when I was in the Navy for five years, in the early 1970s , I had the same problem, they wouldn't send me anywhere. But yes, when Harry was out there I worried the whole damn time. Therefore, I can understand profoundly what it is that other families are going through, just how agonizing it is, day in and day out worrying about what is happening to your loved one. In many ways it's easier for those who are out there, it's much worse for those left behind, because they're getting on with their job. But at that age, you know, you're determined to go where the action is .

WILLIAMS: And you can see our interview with Prince Charles this Friday on a special hour long DATELINE called " The Man Who Will Be King ." That's this Friday night at 9, 8 Central , followed by his own documentary on the environment here on NBC .