The Prince of Wales has joked about family tensions when he quizzed soldiers about the time they spent with loved ones. William made light of living with relatives during a visit to the Suffolk home of the Army Air Corps (AAC) in his role as its Colonel-in-Chief.
He also pledged to raise the accommodation concerns of soldiers and handed out bacon and sausage rolls to their families. Wearing camouflage military uniform and the AAC’s famous blue beret, William brought up the topic of accommodation when he chatted to servicemen taking a break from an outdoor physical exercise session.
The future king lightened the mood when he joked, after asking one soldier if he spent enough time with his family, “some of them might not want to see you that much – it’s a mixed bag”. The monarchy has experienced family disruption over the decades from separation and divorces to the much-publicised falling out between royal brothers William and the Duke of Sussex.
In a recent television interview Harry, who is also estranged from his father the King, said he “would love a reconciliation” with the royal family. William arrived at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk in a Wildcat Helicopter, a reconnaissance aircraft in the AAC’s fleet.
The prince is a former RAF helicopter search and rescue pilot who later spent two years flying air ambulances, and he flew himself back home after the visit to the ACC’s headquarters to meet military personnel and their families. As the servicemen rested from their physical activities, William told them “I’m going to have a chat about accommodation, make sure they look at that,” and went on to say “If they listen to me that’s another matter,” and said the issue would be landing on a desk.
When he asked another group about accommodation and only received smiles in response, the prince said: “I’ll take that away, a lot of smiles going on, that’s all you need to say.” William later served bacon rolls and sausage baps in the “Archer’s Breakfast”, a weekly social event held by 664 Squadron for its personnel and their families and said about the food “very good smelling, making my mouth water”.
A long line of servicemen and their families quickly formed, and the prince quipped “nothing worse then the smell of bacon in the room and you cannot eat it”. Outside the cafe, William chatted to servicemen and their families including the children of Warrant Officer Class 2 Matthew Foster, Ida, aged eight and five-year-old Archie.
Asked by William what they liked, Ida replied “school” while her younger brother opted not for lessons but “play”. The AAC is the combat aviation arm of the British Army, and is made up of several regiments and units including 664 Squadron, and uses Wildcat battlefield reconnaissance and Apache Attack helicopters to seek out and destroy enemy forces.
When William first arrived he entered a camouflaged covered tent, a mock-up of a mobile planning headquarters used when on deployment, and got to grips with a laptop used to plan missions under the watchful eye of Lance Corporal Sulabh Ale. He ended his visit by presenting a King’s Commendation for Valuable Service and award soldiers their promotion from Corporal to Sergeant.
