Last May, when Prince Harry was in London for the tenth-anniversary service for the Invictus Games, King Charles organized an especially pointed event. Charles formally handed over the commander-in-chief of the Army Air Corps patronage to Prince William. They appeared together (they did not arrive or leave together) for a photocall, and then William bumbled around in a uniform and made vroom-vroom noises in a helicopter (I’m including the photos from last year’s handover). The event was organized as a message to Prince Harry, because Harry served in the Army Air Corps in Afghanistan. Since that handover, William has done very little with the military patronage. He was scheduled to fly to Suffolk today for an event, but he canceled at the last minute. Perhaps it was all of that boozing in Birmingham yesterday?
Prince William was forced to cancel a royal outing on Thursday, Jan. 16. The Prince of Wales, 42, was planning to visit families and servicemen and women at a military regiment where he holds a prestigious royal role.
But the weather meant that the outing to the Army Air Corps (AAC) regiment in Wattisham, Suffolk, had to be postponed. In a message, Kensington Palace said the poor weather would have “significantly restricted the planned program.”
“The Prince of Wales sends his sincere apologies to those who he had been due to meet and hopes to reschedule his visit at the earliest convenience.”
William had been due to arrive in style at the AAC regiment in Wattisham — in a Wildcat Helicopter. The chopper is critical for reconnaissance, and William had been expected to talk to the armed forces members about the Corps’ work and meet teams training at the facility. He was also expected to spend time with soldiers and their families for a discussion about the experiences of the regiment from the perspective of those enlisted, and talk on the importance of resilience and adaptability as well as the importance of caring for one’s mental health and physical wellbeing.
It’s perfectly possible that the weather was simply too bad, but this is telling: “William had been due to arrive in style at the AAC regiment in Wattisham — in a Wildcat Helicopter.” Basically, William had a big stunt planned to “co-pilot” a Wildcat and people were supposed to ooh-and-ahh over the big He-Man Heir. When William was told the weather meant that his Wildcat stunt would need to be canceled, he decided that if he couldn’t have the photo-op, he wasn’t going at all. That’s just what it sounds like to me! There are other ways to get to Suffolk besides a joyride in a £26 million piece of military equipment, that’s all I’ll say. Of course, it’s also possible that Peggy was too hungover as well.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
