"Merit" as a criteria for selection is only a fairly recent phenomenon. As recently as a hundred years ago people were still buying commissions; and twice in the past century a great many have been compelled to serve, merit or no, whether they wanted to or not.
Some would argue, myself among them, that it is in fact nothing less than a young Prince's duty to serve in the military. That he wants to, is merit in itself.
Cut the boys some slack, and save comments until we see how they actually measure up.
They may surprise everyone.