London, June 21 Prince William has made it known for the first time how his private meetings with former street gang members helped him pick valuable pointers from them.

The royal revealed he had met former gang members through his links to charities and understands their struggle to earn "respect".

"Former gang members have told me that it is precisely to find status, respect from others and the role in a community that we all crave that led them to fall in with gangs in the first place," The Telegraph quoted him as saying in his article for the newspaper.

"One enduring feature of all gangs - and teams - is that they survive on mutual support. They allow their members to earn respect by obeying the rules, and they share clear objectives.

"Essentially, they allow the individual to belong. As such, the fundamental difference - so far as I can see - between violent street gangs and cohesive teams of contented young people is the destructive violence of the former set against the constructive comradeship of the latter.

"The challenge, therefore, seems to me to be to how turn gang members into team members," he added.

William, who turns 27 today, is presently training to be a search and rescue pilot. (ANI)