The Royal Navy Academy, where King Charles and Prince William received military training, is being dropped in the Labor Defense Review

It was where the late Queen first met a dashing young naval cadet called Philip Mountbatten, and where the current King and the next received military training.

But now the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth – which has trained officers for more than 160 years – could face the ax in Labour’s defense review.

Former defense secretary Lord Robertson is leading a ‘root and branch’ report on the armed forces, and sources close to the review have expressed fears that the Devon base could already be in his sights.

The imposing Grade II listed college, which overlooks the River Dart and trains more than 400 cadets a year, is billed as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Royal Navy’s coastal bases.

It is the place where the then Prince Charles trained in 1971 and where Prince William went in 2008.

And it was true, in 1939, 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth first met her future husband, then 18 years old. The pair famously played croquet on the academy lawns, and Philip’s uncle, Louis Mountbatten, later told Charles in a letter: “Mama never seriously thought of anyone else after the Dartmouth meeting.”

But despite its illustrious history, the training school was the subject of a damning report from education watchdog Ofsted last year.

Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman described conditions there as “unacceptable… a sad story of dilapidated, sometimes unsafe buildings and facilities, with rotting windows and areas off-limits for safety reasons.”

She added that commanding officers had been unable to deal with the estate for years “due to a lack of support and resources” and concluded: “This situation cannot be allowed to continue.”

The Ministry of Defense said at the time that it had taken steps to ‘ensure the continued delivery of safe and effective training’, but warned that the college’s second-tier status could delay improvements.

But last night a private Navy source admitted that with budgets tight, “it is difficult to justify retaining Dartmouth.”

Shortly after Labour’s election victory in July, the Ministry of Defense launched a Strategic Defense Review into what Sir Keir Starmer described as ‘our depleted armed forces’. Labor peer Lord Robertson, who is also a former secretary general of NATO, will report back next summer.

Sources close to the investigation told The Mail on Sunday that the future of the historic naval school was already the subject of debate.

They raised the prospect of the university being closed and the course moved to a purpose-built complex within the next five years.

A Navy source said last night: “I recently visited Dartmouth and yes, it needs a lot of love. Everywhere you look, buildings are in need of maintenance and we have a shrinking Navy and fewer officers. It’s very hard to justify keeping Dartmouth open when it takes so much revenue to keep it open, but there will be a fight to keep it open.”

Last night, former Secretary of Defense Tobias Ellwood said closing Dartmouth would be “a betrayal of the proud heritage and status of our Navy,” adding: “It is known as the premier training academy for naval officers in the world.”

A Ministry of Defense spokesperson said the college ‘remains home to officer training courses for the Royal Navy and no such closure decision has been made’.