I was surprised to see Prince William out and about on Tuesday, which was Day 2 of his father’s US state visit. The general rule for all of the left-behind royals is that they’re not supposed to undertake any high-profile events back home or make news during a high-stakes state visit. One could argue that “William doing military dress-up” isn’t really making news, and yet… it’s notable that he thought nothing of pulling focus. For William, it was probably more about competing with his brother, who spent two days in Ukraine last week. Well, William also made news beyond his military cosplay – he spoke about “missing” his time at the RAF, and he also yammered on and on about Aston Villa.
A wistful Prince of Wales has described how much he misses the camaraderie of his time as an RAF search and rescue pilot. Prince William, 43, returned to RAF Valley on Anglesey, North Wales, on Tuesday, telling trainees how much he had loved working there and admitting that he would love to return.
The Prince was based at the Holyhead site from 2010 to 2013, when he and the Princess of Wales, who mark their 15th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, lived together on Anglesey as newlyweds. It allowed the young couple to enjoy married life in relative normalcy, away from prying eyes. Their rented four-bedroom farmhouse on the island was also Prince George’s first home.
The Prince, wearing RAF camouflage uniform and sporting a trimmed, greying beard, told trainees at the station: “I loved my time up here. It was great fun. Your time up here will go quickly, that’s the thing. You’ll look back with fond memories.”
He added: “I do miss it. I miss the job, I miss the camaraderie.”
The Prince also caught up with former colleagues including Brian Wills, a pilot instructor, and Andy Batchelor, chief maritime instructor. Mr Wills said: “In a heartbeat, he said he’d come back and do it again.”
The Prince, who was named Royal Honorary Air Commodore of the base in 2023, watched a parade to mark the 85th anniversary of the station. As well as talking about aviation, the royal spoke about his football team Aston Villa during a discussion with Isaac Reed, a trainee working within air traffic.
Mr Reed, a Sunderland fan, said: “He misspoke and said Villa when he meant to say Valley, so that was my opportunity to jump in and ask about football. It got the Prince talking. He seemed more keen than I was at one point.”
The Prince presented the Prince of Wales Award, given annually to recognise the best-qualified flying instructor within the No 4 Flying Training School, and met women from the base, telling them he was trying to take “barometer readings” of the experiences of women in the military. He said: “Some things have come to my attention that I’m not particularly happy about. Are we adopting and evolving the Armed Forces in a way that is suiting women joining the Forces and is it a nice place to join?”
The officers spoke to the Prince about their experiences, including returning to work in the RAF after having children.
The Prince and Princess are expected to mark their wedding anniversary privately on Wednesday.
One of the forgotten pieces of gossip is that when William was first stationed at RAF Valley, he wanted his then-girlfriend Kate Middleton to move into RAF housing with him, which caused a massive kerfuffle at the RAF and Buckingham Palace. He was basically told that no, he can’t have a live-in girlfriend in military housing. That basically forced William into proposing to Kate, and it also forced him into renting that “cottage” in Anglesey. They never “remember” that part of it! As for William missing his RAF days… I bet he does. Genuinely. He doesn’t want to do all of this royal work. He wishes he could go back to his part-time pilot days where he had a built-in excuse for not undertaking royal work (while simultaneously avoiding RAF work).
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
