Wills to win: royal couple to help coach young athletes for Games

So who better to coach 200 aspiring British Olympians in coping with the demands of the Games?

The Evening Standard can reveal details of William and Kate's role as Olympic 2012 ambassadors for the first time - and they include using their experience of royal duties and being in the public eye to help young sports men and women gain confidence and win medals.

In an interview with the Standard, British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan said that the couple wanted to go well beyond ceremonial duties and be "part of the team".

As official ambassadors for the BOA with Prince Harry, they will work with athletes and coaches chosen for the "Ambition" programme who will attend London 2012 not as competitors but to ground them in the Olympic experience as preparation for future Games.

Lord Moynihan said: "They are looking to make that marginal difference which will assist all those athletes, parents and coaches and taking them one step closer to podium success." He added: "They are young and enthusiastic, they communicate exceptionally well and I think they will build strong and enduring relations with our athletes."

Previous beneficiaries of the programme include London 2012 medal hopefuls Jonathan Brownlee, Perri Shakes-Drayton and Rachel Cawthorn, whose first taste of the Olympics was as spectators at the Beijing Games.

Kate and William will attend Team GB pre-Games training base at Loughborough University where the 550 members of Team GB will collect their kit at a "fun" induction. They are expected to be involved across all 26 sports but pay particular interest to their favourites. Prince William played water polo as a boy and his wife excelled at hockey and cross country running at school.

Their "hands-on" role with Team GB raises the possibility of them appearing in the red, white and blue kit and even parading with the squad on opening ceremony night.

Meanwhile, organisers of the London Marathon hope to persuade Prince Harry to fire the starter's gun on Blackheath this year - and to run the race in future years. The prince has just begun a three-year stint as patron of the London Marathon charitable trust.

The Duke of Cambridge today became patron of a charity that does pioneering work in prisons and on gang warfare in London. The St Giles Trust started life as a soup kitchen in a church crypt in Camberwell in 1962.