Prince Harry has publicly raised the issue of cuts to Ministry of Defence budgets, as he visited to the home of Army aviation to present graduates with their wings.

The Prince, who flew Apache helicopters during his army service, said “budgets are being shrunk” in certain areas, as he urged a dozen pilots from the Army Air Corps to remember they are “the assets”.

While he stopped short of explicit criticism, the comments, made in what appeared to be a heartfelt unscripted speech, highlighted the issue of cuts to a defence budget which senior military figures have warned is already “close to breaking”.

In recent months there has been widespread speculation about further cuts to personnel and equipment owing to major pressure on the defence budget, alongside calls from MPs to increase spending to 3 per cent of GDP.