The Duchess of Cambridge is due to give birth to their second child any day now, and her husband will no longer face a race to the London hospital from one of three U.K. air bases to arrive in time to meet the new baby.

William is taking four weeks unpaid time off in addition to two weeks paternity leave after he completed the first phase of his training with Bond Air Services earlier than expected.

A spokesman for Kensington Palace says, "This is a due to a combination of the Duke performing well in the various modules and having very good flying conditions that allowed flight training and assessment to progress more quickly than had been planned."

The royal is due to return to work on 1 June (15).