LONDON — Home for the holidays? Not Prince William.

The soon-to-be-married prince’s military commitment will spare him and Kate Middleton the sometimes agonizing choice that bedevils many young couples in the months before a wedding: Which side of the family to spend Christmas with.

The choice between Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham Estate in rural Norfolk, where the royal family usually spends Christmas, and the Middletons’ more modest but still spacious residence west of London has been taken out of William’s hands by the Ministry of Defense.

The second in line to the British throne will be on military assignment on Christmas Day, keeping him away from the royal family’s traditional celebration. The assignment gives him an airtight excuse: Neither side of the family can be offended, since the young man will be doing his patriotic duty.

If William has mince pie — a sugary English holiday staple often made with fruit and raisins — it will probably be industrial strength, mass produced fare at the Royal Air Force base on Anglesey island off the coast of Wales where he serves as a helicopter rescue pilot.