The Duke of Kent graduated from Sandhurst in 1955 as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Scots Greys. He then served with his regiment at home and overseas in a military career that spanned 21 years.

Following a tour in Hong Kong in 1962-63, he attended the Army staff course in 1966 and then served on the staff in Eastern Command.

In 1970 he commanded a squadron of his regiment serving in Cyprus as part of the United Nations force.

The Duke retired from the Army in 1976 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was subsequently promoted to Field Marshal in June 1993.

The Duke retains close links to the Army. He holds a number of senior appointments, and visits his regiments on a regular basis, including travelling to Iraq in 2006 to meet members of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and in 2008 to Afghanistan and Iraq to meet members of the Scots Guards.

The Duke is a Personal Aide-de-Camp to The Queen, Colonel of the Scots Guards, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Royal Colonel of 1st Battalion The Rifles, and Colonel-in-Chief of the Lorne Scots Regiment (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment) - in Canada. He is also Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, in which he served in his youth.

In the Royal Air Force he is an Honorary Air Chief Marshal, and Honorary Air Commodore of Royal Air Force Station Leuchars in Fife, Scotland.