Prince William has finished his three-week stint of work experience at financial organisations in London, saying that he now has a "much better understanding of how all the different financial institutions work and how they fit together".

William spent his time divided between Bank of England, London Stock Exchange, Lloyds of London and Billingsgate Fish Market.

The young royal said: "Spending every day with people who contribute so much to this country's economy gave me the chance to experience the atmosphere of the City and to see, as best as I could, what it's really like to work there."

This is part of a large scheme of work experience, designed to prepare the prince to assume the throne. He has already worked on a country estate learning about land management, worked with homeless charity Centrepoint and played football at Charlton Athletic FC ahead of becoming president of the Football Association.

The next job for the prince is with a mountain rescue team before he goes on to take up a military career in Sandhurst in 2006.