Prince of Wales: King in Waiting (2024)

doing a job like this is worthwhile valuable um and to me there's an element of Duty about it some of my earliest memories relate to times that my parents spoke to me um or even better showed me what it meant to have both privilege and responsibilities Charles sort of set out almost what everybody's role would be and he named that William and Catherine would be the new Prince and Princess of Wales I think he will be very much a king who knows his own mind William is a very determined man I think he takes the

role very seriously I think he believes in monarchy at the moment they are the golden couple the royal family is built on history and tradition and protocol but actually in William and Kate you see a future king and queen who are driving it forward and taking it on to the next [Music] [Applause] [Music] step it goes on and on and on doesn't this accus of people this family has service sort of you know running through them William has got it his father's got it his grandmother's got it but I think he's also very much much

more a man of the Modern Age and of the people he will be very much more modern uh than than his grandmother or or his father and and I think he'll be much more the people's [Music] King to me I didn't join the forces to be like I said lot of times before Molly cuddled or treated any different every day you come in to work and you don't quite know what's going to happen it's quite exciting in that sense it's unpredictable I think as a future head of the UN Force it's really important that I

was at least get the opportunity uh to be credible and to do the job that I signed up for uh and to do the best I can and that was the point at which I think William went from being a young man to a future [Music] king following the death of his dearest and most revered grandmother Queen Elizabeth II Prince William's father now Charles III ascended to the throne and Prince William took the title of Prince of Wales his Royal Highness Prince William is now second in line to the throne but he has his work

cut out following in his Father's Footsteps and keeping up the tradition of Duty and hard work his Destiny is to inherit the crown and succeed to the throne but how does a prince prepare to become king crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace throughout the evening then at 10:25 their patience was rewarded with the formal notice of the birth it was signed by Mr George Pinker the Queen's gynecologist and other doctors who attended the Princess Prince William now Prince of Wales firstborn son of King Charles III and Diana Princess of Wales has always been in the spotlight

born second in line to the throne he was destined for a life of Duty and of service the fact that Diana produced a little boy an air um I think just further endeared her to the British public people loved her even more and when she came out holding Prince William with Prince Charles images that really just melted I think even the most hardened Hearts around the country and uh it was it was a cause for great celebration um Britain had come through a difficult time and I think the royal family were giving the country something

to look forward to the skies were clear this morning as the Royal Australian Air Force jet made its approach prince and princess emerged showing no sign of the long flight and obviously well educated in the right sort of clothes to wear in central Australia and then the moment more than 100 reporters and cameramen flew from all over the world to see the public debut of 9-month-old Prince William second in line to the throne of course for Prince William he would have been able to understand little of what was going on around him at the time

as his Nanny carried him carefully down the steps of the aircraft onto Australian soil Diana's decision to take her baby Prince William with her on their tour of a Australia and New Zealand in 1983 was criticized in some corners of the media but it was a turning point for Diana and the catalist for her to grow in popularity with the [Music] public later to protect the young princes William and Harry from The excesses of the press and paparatzi the royal family came to an agreement with the media that the boys would be free from press

intrusion whilst they were being educated and in exchange the family undertook to give regular updates to the mainstream media exactly on time the family emerged from the house one Prince carrying another everyone agreed that Prince William had grown a lot in the 5 weeks since he arrived in Australia at Alice Springs the princess wisely hedging her bets little had told us she would not guarantee that the 10-month old Prince would crawl look so what did Prince William do [Music] immediately come this way William had a a fairly traditional aristocratic childhood in as much as he

was taken care of by nannies his parents were were you know Diana particularly was a modern parent but she was a modern aristocratic parent and she did use nannies and the nannies really were the people that William spent most of his time with he had been a very outgoing little boy he at his first school he was known as Basher Basher Wills or Basher whales um cuz he was you know quite stroppy and confident after his early years at ludgrove school the Young Prince William entered the gates of Eaton where he fitted in easily to

its centuries old traditions and where he found like-minded people for their eldest son's big day the Princess of Wales was in the driving seat with the Prince of Wales at her side Eaton's most famous new boy was with his younger brother Harry in the back Williams education was at Eaton College Eaton college is probably the leading Public School in England and it's very very traditional uh William's mother Diana Princess of Wales insisted that he went to Eaton as did her father and her younger brother Charles Prince Charles exceeded to this uh he went to gordonston

where he was thoroughly miserable and cried almost every time he had to go back to to school even as a teenager and he allowed his sons both to go to a very elitist school it's very elite it's very expensive it's very Posh if you will but it also has a degree of freedom for the for the pupils they are encouraged to be self-confident and to find themselves and when William came there after being at L grve the prep school people realized as he had to sign in every pupil signs into the um the book when

they come that he was left-handed first time people realized he was a southpaw will threw himself enthusiastically into school life but if there was one area in which he really excelled it would be sport an arena in which he continues to devote his energies to this day seeming to naturally embrace all the principles of sportsmanship and teamwork which make it so important in our [Music] lives unfortunately although William enjoyed his time at Eaton it was of course blighted by the tragic death of his mother [Music] [Music] [Music] Charles shut up Charles thank you so thank

you William thank you so much thank you thank you very much Will William we love you you know how does any 15year old and 12y old Coke without um it was devastating for them obviously [Music] on the day of the funeral William and Harry walked behind the c um it was a long walk and the there were crowds sobbing and and wailing and um hundred thousands and thousands of people lining the route and they walked with their father uh their grandfather and Charles Spencer she was an exceptional and gifted human being in good times and

bad she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness I admired and respected her for her energy and commitment to others and especially for her Devotion to her two boys William and Harry we all care desperately for you today we are all chewed up with sadness at the loss of a woman who wasn't even our mother how great your suffering is we cannot even imagine above all we give thanks for the life of a woman I'm so proud to be able to call my sister the unique

the complex the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana whose Beauty both internal and external will never be extinguished from our minds [Applause] [Music] [Applause] after graduating from Eaton like many young men of his generation Prince William decided on a gap here now he's off to the plains of Patagonia for a 10we Expedition I wanted to do something constructive um in my Gap here rather than um I mean uh I could do quite a lot of work but I thought this is a bit more of a way of um making uh trying to help people out and um

meet a whole range of different people from um different countries and at the same time uh helping people um in remote areas of Chile I think we very much seeing a royal for the new century very relaxed not stage managed um happy to Josh a bit uh with his father in an informal way but not scared to say exactly what his feeling and uh certainly not prepared to dodge the difficult issues the clearest example of that his challenge to the Press today to let his mother rest in peace through his early voluntary work with rally

International the Young Prince set off for chile where he spent 3 months working on various Community projects painting chopping wood and even cleaning the L just like everybody else there was no question in any of the Gap here actually that he was a prince and treated differently he mucked in he slept in sleeping bags you know he he cooked food around a campfire he did everything that everyone else did a few weeks later a young Kate Middleton also undertook a similar voluntary role and on that occasion they just missed each other Prince William loves Scotland

and it didn't take him long to decide to continue his education at the University of St Andrews he did well enough to get not a place at Oxbridge which could have been fixed for him there was speculation that he would go to Trinity College Cambridge as his father did but he was sufficient of his own man to say now I want to go to Scotland I like Scotland he chose St Andrew's University very ancient University in the Kingdom of f and so by chance did Kate Middleton and that of course where they were both first

year students freshers that's where they met it was at St Andrews where that friendship because it was initially a friendship flourished um William and Kate were at the same Halls of residents at St Salvador they were on the same course in the same year I mean some people say wasn't that just too much of a coincidence um but it was how things worked out and they spent the first year as undergraduates really getting to know each other William was not particular happy in his course they were both doing history of Art and uh Kate was

was really great actually at trying to keep him focused keep him incentivized and actually stop him from leaving St Andreas which was at one point what he wanted to do um he didn't leave he switched course and they spent the next four years living together and falling in love the people of St Andrews are a very closeit sort of society and they welcomed William with open arms and they were very protective of of him and as a result you know he he spent life he spent four years there as a pretty normal student I think

the wonderful thing about St Andrews was it was a bubble away from reality it was it was a life that Prince William had never been able to enjoy whether it was going to the local Shops going to a local bar going for his morning swim he could get on with his life and his relationship in private at all times they were highly discreet they they were almost never seen together they were even with their friends they didn't allow any gossip to start people speculated but there was nothing uh definite which proved that they were an

item and I think the pair of them absolutely loved those years they look upon those St Andrew's years with with great fondness and they are patrons of St Andrew's University because they feel such a strong connection to that place in his own words it is time now for the big wide world but today Williams family like any other well almost came to say a proud farewell to a place that has allowed him a more normal life than any Royal in history that he is deeply grateful is not in doubt and partly of course it's been

about this woman they've been allowed to develop a relationship without front page scrutiny and it's helped Catherine Middleton romance did not stand in the way of hard work and Prince William graduated alongside Kate with a Scottish master of arts degree with upper second class honors of course no graduation would be complete without family to proudly celebrate academic achievement but there are not many who can include the queen in their University [Music] graduation William Wales [Music] the British royal family have served the Armed Forces for Generations it's a useful Place really for them to be because

certainly in modern times because they are away from the prying eyes of the of the public and the Press the media it's a useful service you know they um they get to they get to experience danger and they get to be part of a team and it's great for leadership and for mixing with people from more walks of life which is something that when they're growing up historically they didn't really do so much the reason it's important for members of the roal family to serve in the militaries because one day as um Prince Wells it's

felt that it's extremely important that if you are going to be head of the military that some way you would have served the queen in fact did serve um with uh during World War II um with the women's core Elizabeth is in the ATS or British whack and at the King's request is being treated just like any other trainee Queen Elizabeth herself had an active role during World War II and was the first female member of the royal family to serve in a full-time military role she diagnosed and repaired faulty engines serving in the ATS

William's grandfather Prince Phillip served with distinction in World War II and was awarded the Greek war Cross of Valor Rising through the ranks the Young Prince Philip became one of the youngest officers in the Royal Navy to be promoted to first lieutenant Prince William's father served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy Prince Charles stepped out from the fleet airarms headquarters at yelton in Somerset today in perfect flying weather for his first hours instruction at the controls of a Wessex Mark 5 helicopter it's the start of a 3 and a half month flying

course at the end of which he'll be qualified like his father Prince Phillip to fly helicopters including those belonging to the Queen's flight qualifying as a helicopter pilot in 1974 and joining the 845 Naval Air Squadron operating from the Commando carrier HMS Hermes in February 1976 Prince Charles was promoted to command and he took control of HMS bronington a coastal mine hunter for his last 9 months in the Royal [Music] Navy if later on I'm to be associated with all three services it' be a very good idea to do an attachment with each one I

think it gives one a a very useful um experience useful experience of responsibility and discipline I think responsibility is the most important thing is the actual trust that's put in you to deal with other people and you're feeling that they can perhaps put their trust in you as well both William and Harry were Keen to follow the example of their family and take an active role in the military after passing the selection process to become an army officer Prince William took his place at Sandhurst the Royal Military Academy from which thousands of successful Army careers

have been launched sand Hurst used to be filled at I think with rather dimwitted sons of the aristocracy um today it is really a you know a very serious Academy it's a very tough course and hugely physical you you pass quite serious exams academic exams to get into Sandhurst and and then once you're there the regime is is pretty um remorseless William got through it the cadets at Sandhurst are divided into companies or divisions as they're called the senior division always has the honor of carrying the color a banner personally given by The Sovereign and

as the senior Cadets complete their training so the color is passed on the academy RSM receives the color and carries it to the new senior division of the next year Willam clearly leared how to march in Step here at Sandhurst by all accounts he was a natural Soldier considered to be amongst the best in his year the 44-week training course is grueling and it's reported that William found enormous strength during this period and made friends who remain close and loyal to this day next year sees the 60th anniversary of the formation of the royal Military

Academy Sandhurst the spiritual home of the officer core of the British Army and the high standards which it contain continues to demand of its Cadets have been exemplified by your impressive drill and turnout today the Academy's principal aim is to develop the qualities of leadership character and intellect demanded of an army officer on first appointment I place that trust in you with confidence and my prayers for your success and safety will will follow you wherever you may be called upon to serve graduating with the rank of Lieutenant Wales William followed his younger brother into the

blues and Royals as a troop Commander which meant a further 5 month training at bovington camp in Dorset Harry had been to Sandhurst ahead of William because he didn't do he didn't go to university and he had joined the Blu and Royals regiment um William when he when he graduated from Sandhurst when he passed out he also joined the blues and Royals but because of the way that um the regiments uh rotated in their deployments it was quite clear that William was not actually going to make it to Afghanistan his regiment wouldn't go there um

for 18 months and rather than sit around um kicking his heels doing training work in in this country he decided to go and look at the other forces Prince William moved to the Royal Air Force and in 2008 he completed a 12we intensive flying training course at Raf College Cranwell Prince William will arrive here January 201 and he'll be attached to the Royal Air Force for 4 months and during that time there'll be some fine training and he'll also then go on to operational squadrons to see how the operational side of the royal Air Force

operates I think everybody's very excited I know Prince William's Keen to come here and Learn to Fly and the instructors who've been chosen to teach him are looking forward to it as well this is the gro chor it's the raf's elementary fine training aircraft all our Pilots come into this at the first stage of their training as soon as they finish offic training uh so the coursemates for flying off of Wales will be doing exactly the same train TR as him at this stage um it's fairly docile to fly it's something you could find similar

to at a flying Club but it's also fully aerobatic so it's quite a capable aircraft and we can up the pace quite quickly which is what we do on our training course this is a Tano t- Mark 1 trainer it's the basic fastjet trainer for the Royal Air Force and Prince William is going to be uh coming to us from his Tut to Flying to expand his flying skills give him some more complicated and Advanced Techniques uh and then progress him onto the squirrel phase of his course prior to the award of wings it's going

to be a very exciting uh period it's a privilege to train Prince William uh with regard to how he'll be treated he's going to be treated the same as all the rest of our students and and all the junior officers that we work with in the Air Force is known as the squirrel and ours is specifically the as350 BB which is unique to the Air Force only in pure terms of what the aircraft has on to has on it in terms of equipment uh we use it for basic military training for all Army Navy and

Air Force rotary students in the UK so the prince will fly both the chor and the Tano before coming to shawbury to fly the squirrel it's it's a huge honor for for all involved and uh we we have had raw visitors in the past and Cranwell especially um with its association with Prince Charles and his flying training everyone is very much very much looking forward to it he's not just another recruit but we are trying to make him uh fit in as much as he can and certainly that's what happened with the Army um so

he'll be treated the same as anybody else he'll wear the same uniform uh and those Associated would would call him as they would any other the junior officer in the same rank how's life in the RAF very good enjoying it very much it's very different from the Army um in certain ways yeah otherwise it's you know still the same sort of um sort of camaraderie and everyone getting along really well I understand you flew your first solo flight yesterday I did yeah how did it go um well I'm still had to tell a tale and

I haven't been built for a plane so so far it looks all right but um it was one of those experiences whereby I thought it'll never come around and I thought you know hopefully bit longer yet I get my my practice and the next when Str jumps out and goes go on get on with it and I was left there sort of looking around the room go uh what so uh I just did it and once you get up in the air it was fine it wasn't so bad his father had loved flying his grandfather

had loved flying um it was very much in the blood I think and he and his brother of course Harry L flying so the two brothers became helicopter pilots in the end once again proud parents were able to play an active role on graduation day so he was presenting William with his wings I mean it must he must have felt hugely proud but also um a sort of Bittersweet moment for Charles because he himself wasn't able to carry on with his flying career because it was thought too dangerous for the heir to the throne flying

Officer William Wales graduating with number 227 and number 97 horses [Applause] after serving in both the Army and the Royal Air Force William was then seconded to train with the Navy spending 3 weeks at the britania Royal Navy College in Dartmouth so having leared to to fly an airplane um he then went to to do to explore the Navy to get a taste of the Navy and he went out to the Caribbean um on a a drug policing um vessel and during his time there um he did he was part of a crew that busted

a huge huge drugs Hall worth millions of pounds um so he he experienced quite a lot of excitement um and probably quite a lot of danger actually William extended his Royal Naval short service commission for as long as possible and it's reported that he greatly enjoyed his time in the senior service but he was called back to the Royal Air Force and promoted to flight Lieutenant taking up training to become a helicopter pilot in the RAF search and rescue service he was not going into a battlefield nobody knew who he was up in in an

in a helicopter and yet it was very real and meaningful work to me I didn't join the forces to be like I said a lot of times before Molly cuddled or treated any different and as far as I'm concerned in my eyes Harry can do it than I can do it uh I don't really separate us in that much difference and I think as a future head of the Armed Force it's really important that I was get at least get the opportunity uh to be credible and to do the job that I signed up for

uh and to do the best I can and that's all I wanted to do and the search and rescue role is now you know slightly different to obviously being able to go to Afghanistan but it's still doing an important job and I hope that it's yeah I hope it's the St right direction actually for future the training is demanding and includes Advanced handling night flying emergency handling and tactical and formation flying on the Griffin ht1 helicopter William Wales flight leftenant William Wales is posted to the operational conversion unit 20 3 squadron Royal Air Force Valley

to fly the Sea King flight Lieutenant Wales graduated in January 2010 from the Defense helicopter flying school at Raf [Applause] shawbury Prince William then transferred to ARF Valley at angle sea becoming the first member of the royal family since Henry iith to live in Wales for the next 8 months he trained on the Sea King helicopter and was assigned to seaflight number 22 Squadron as a co-pilot well before I started search and rescue I had a little brief uh introduction to it and it was immediate to me um I spent 3 hours flying with the

guys and it was totally apparent to me strad away how important the job is and the skills the guys employ um the flying aspects the the general airmanship you need to to have around you and all the wits you need to survive the weather and whatever sort of situation you're thrown into um it definitely is Advanced flying and it's rewarding so it put the two together and it's a fantastic job it's rewarding because every day you come in to work and you don't quite know what's going to happen it's quite exciting in that sense it's

unpredictable but at the same time it's great that you get to go out and actually save someone's life hopefully or at least make a difference to someone you know when you know that they're in trouble you do everything you can to try and get there and the guys demonstrate that every single day they go out and with the team environment there is in the cockpit um is very much sort of big family in this guy and and the guys do a fantastic job we've got 11 Pilots here Williams a fairly new co-pilot but as such

he he he flies the aircraft as much as anyone else and he'll be called on upon quite regularly during jobs to take control of the aircraft while the captain's doing something else um uh regarding the hierarchy we're all pretty much uh we're all of equal rank um just with different varying levels of experience so and we all get on very very well together have a joke and a laugh when we're we're on the ground and and get serious when we're flying it's absolutely fantastic I mean when William first arrived on the Squadron it was a

massive shock to all of us fairly dumfounded really that somebody was such a Prestige was coming on to our Squadron but very quickly settled into just one of the guys and one of us one part of the family certainly um and day today you don't even really notice I suppose in 10 15 years time when we look back on this occasion it'll seem very very special and memorable and but he's he's a great guy to work with when you're flying along at night in snow D you're in mountains and you've got 40 KN wins the

clouds down to about 200 ft and you're trying to get through to find someone who's either broken the leg or is lost on the hill um it gets quite interesting you have to use all four of you put your brain power together and your skill and basically hope that you know you can actually get there and help there was a a key moment in his life it was in 2011 there had been a huge devastating earthquake in New Zealand and William said to his private secretary is anyone from the royal family going down to New

Zealand because if they're not I would like to go and and you know represent the queen and and express our sorrow what's happened and his proud say you can't possibly do this you know you haven't got time how are you going to work out you know you've got this these number of shifts you've got to do with the with search and rescue he said it's right I've sorted all of that just find out whether whether I can go whether anyone else is going so he did and he went and he stood side by side with

people who'd lost loved ones homes businesses you know the the scenes there were absolutely devastating my grandmother once said that grief is the price we pay for love here today we love and we grieve and that was the point at which I think William went from being a young man to a future King Family Life beckoned and during his time at ARF Valley it was announced that Prince William and Kate Middleton were to marry flying himself into the land his family have worked for Generations the Craig's plane touches down in Laya the Romantic Hideway Prince

William chose to make his proposal producer ring yeah there and then I did yeah I'd been carrying it around with me in my ruck sack for about 3 weeks before that and uh I literally would not let it go everywhere I went I was keeping a hold of it cuz I knew this thing if it disappeared I'd be in a lot of trouble um and yeah cuz I plannned it it sort of it went fine as you know you hear a lot of horror stories about proposing and things go horribly wrong it went really really

well and uh yeah I was really pleased that she said yes [Music] I think it was very telling that he chose to give Kate Middleton his mother's engagement ring and he said I want my mother to be part of this to be present not in a Sinister way of course not not the ghost at the feast but there to enjoy the celebrations and the fun of it all of a great occasion and I think people are very well aware of the background and they certainly have a great deal of um uh sympathy and um they're

almost willing them to be happy because he particularly has had difficulties in his [Music] life on the 29th of April 2011 Prince William and Kate Middleton married in Westminster Abbey the nation took Kate to their hearts and she has been by his side ever since this was very much a a a wedding their personal wedding okay it was very very public obviously it was televised and and the world was watching but it was essentially um their private wedding and that's how they kind of treated it um and it it was very touching and and Kate

looked absolutely [Music] stunning it was a cause for big celebration crowds gathered from far away to take part in the day after all Kate Would One Day become Queen [Music] consort like many young newlyweds in the services Duty called and flight Lieutenant Wales was deployed to the folkland islands becoming part of a Forman crew providing cover for Aviation assets and assisting those in need of rescue search and rescue Pilots here provide 24-hour coverage um with a seeking helicopter they're on juicy for a 24-hour period um and covering any eventuality um as you've seen the the

distances here are quite large the roads are not fantastic and if we need to get somebody military or civilian to hospital um quite often Search and Rescue helicopters the best way of doing it the deployment was seen as particularly controversial as it came close to the Third 30th anniversary of the start of the folkland war the argentinians felt that this was a slap in the face to them for Prince William to be marching about in uniform humiliating the argentinians on what they still believe is their territory balancing home and family life with a Korea can

be difficult Kate gave birth of their first child Prince George in July 2013 the media camped out in excitement to catch a glimpse of the Future King Kum William greeted the press and introduced Prince George to the world after this flight Lieutenant William Wales took the decision to retire from active service in the Royal Air Force in September 2013 William I think that time those years as a search and rescue pilot he really felt that he did achieve something it was a real job there were no concessions for who he was he wasn't wrapped up

in Cotton wool but the time came where he where the Tour of Duty came to an end and I think he left probably with quite a heavy heart but he'd had a very very good time there um and I think you know he he absolutely achieved what he set out to achieve during his time at ARF Valley Prince William undertook 156 search and rescue missions where 149 people were rescued whilst in the Royal Air Force he completed over 1,300 flying hours it's not often he gets to meet the people whose lives he saved Sharon West

got the opportunity to meet The Prince and to personally thank him for saving her life hello I just want to say thank you for rescuing me was it was it you it from the beacho was it um yeah yeah your sister yeah yeah how are you you're right I'm okay I'm glad you made a foot recovery time you never see who you never meet up with anyone else done made Point coming here today so good say thanks to you and the guys team it's the whole team it's all thing retirement from active service did not

deter the Future King from looking to the skies to fulfill his career Ambitions and to continue the spirit of service to others in 2014 it was announced that William would accept full-time employment as a pilot with the East anglian air ambulance based Cambridge airport Kate and William had another exciting announcement they would be having their second child in May 2015 Kate gave birth to princess Charlotte who would be fourth in line to the succession of the throne he made the decision and it was quite a surprise when he announced he wanted to get back into

the cockpit because remember he'd left the RAF we all thought his um flying days were behind him and actually we'd see the Duke of Cambridge embark on a life of official public duty well that hasn't happened um he's gone back into the cockpit albeit in a different capacity he's flying now with the air ambulance service it's a charity um but it's still a full-time and demanding job it also means he can have a career aside from the royal family and it's in a perfect Arena of course because he's going out and helping to save lives

um so it ticks all of those boxes equally I think because he can base himself further up north and away from Kensington Palace which he considers a bit of a goldfish Bowl he can enjoy this idilic life helping to bring up the children at least in the next few years while they're still very young he took up his full-time role in July 2015 that any salary paid to him would be donated to charity well first of all I'm just fantastically excited to be here today the first day it's been a long time coming it's been

many exams and and training to get here um and I'm hugely excited to be joining a very professional bunch of guys and girls um doing a sort of unique complex job uh with the air ambulance and it's it's sort of a follow on from where I was with the military with search and rescue so many of the same sorts of skills and and in in essence the similar type of job just follows on from search and rescue to here so it was a natural natural progression but equally uh doing a job like this is worthwhile

valuable um and to me there's an element of G about it I'm really quite Keen to to be involved with the guys and the girls doing um a complex you know professional job for the next two years Prince William worked on the front line as an emergency worker sometimes witnessing intense trauma and with a real Hands-On approach to helping his medically qualified colleagues there is little doubt that this would have had a significant impact on his mental health and personal life I think nothing ever prepares you that well for what you're going to see and

some of the some of the incidences but uh having done search and rescue before we saw a lot of that already and when you're working with a team um you you know you help each other out and you talk about it and uh you you get through it that way and so it's very important to talk about it William said to a friend recently that that his priorities were family and flying in that order and I think the emphasis on those two FS family and flying is exactly where it is for both of [Music] them

he's friendly he's funny um he's you know always sort of joking and bantering particularly with with other men and with colleagues and I think that was how he managed to be accepted so readily um by by colleagues both in the armed forces and and in the air ambulance he just and in all the Charities that he works for as well they really love him Prince Williams's interest in air ambulance services remains to this day and after some supporting an anniversary for London's air ambulance charity in 2019 he became the official Patron in March 2020 it

was time to move closer to home and in July 2017 Prince William left his position as an air ambulance pilot to take up full-time role duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth Prince Williams made a fantastic contribution to the team um it's been an absolute pleasure to have him on board um he's a hardworking member of the team always Keen to get his hands dirty and help out whether it is just cleaning the aircraft or actually at scene help him out with patients that are critically ill he's a really valuable member of the team I think

that the the over that the big memory I'll have will be the day he arrived really um the very first day arrived you're supposed to call him for just 10 minutes and he ended up staying for about 4 hours um which is a good sign that he was comfortable amongst the team yeah um and then his first day at work early um we we weren't at work long before we got a job and we were straight into a mission a life saving Mission he's been a fantastic member of the team and that's really what we

were looking for was somebody who would really fit in work hard and really contribute to the operation of these tangl ambulance and he's done that in Spades he's been a terrific member of the team he he made a he made a space for himself very quickly as a member of a highly professional team and he earned the respect of everybody around him they haven't been cleaned in two years he really will be missed cuz he's a terrific pilot he's a great guy to have around around he's been really good at scen and that's what that's

the feedback I get from all of our clinical teams and yeah he's just been a great person to have as part of East angland air ambulance just under a year later in April 2018 Kate gave birth to their third child Prince Louie who would be fifth in line of succession family has remained an important part of life for William and the country has been pleased to see more of the young princes George and Louie as well as Princess Charlotte at Royal events Prince William continues in his duties as a monarch in training at the same

time is dedicating himself to the vital service of the crown he has served a vital role on numerous occasions supporting her majesty the queen but also focusing on areas of working life which obviously mean a great deal to him he is currently Patron or president of many organizations remaining particularly interested in conservation young people the Armed Forces emergency responders and mental health I think everything that William has done in his life has colored what he the Charities that he's chosen to support you know the conservation comes from his time in Africa his interest in the

welfare of ex military personnel comes from his time in in the military his experience as an air ambulance pilot the people he saw there the injuries I think his interest in mental welfare is also tied up in all of that his interest in the environment following in the footsteps of his father King Charles and his grandfather Prince philli remained an incredibly important Focus for William Queen Elizabeth spoke of her Pride for her grandchild at the cop 20 6 Summit I'm delighted to welcome you all to the 26th United Nations climate change conference this is a

duty I'm especially happy to discharge as the impact of the environment on human progress was a subject close to the heart of my dear late husband Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh it is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people people to protect our fragile Planet lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William I could not be more proud of [Music] them he spent a lot of time in his youth in Africa and I think it's certainly the role

of his father Prince Charles in conservation has had a big impact upon him it's something he's deeply deeply passionate about he's somebody I think that cares deeply about issues but the homeless is one that he's actively involved with he's also very keen in trying to help um CH young people that are on um drugs and are trying to get through that problem um and he does lend a lot of support to that in fact in fact in my it's my understanding it's not only doing stuff where he helps himself um he actually does put his

money where his mouth is and through his foundation he has contributed quite a lot of money to assisting people in this in this regard this has service sort of you know running through them William has got it his father's got it his grandmother's got it I think his role model is the queen not actually his parents I think he felt that his parents blurred the distinction between the public and the private the queen has managed to keep her privacy and her personal life much more to herself and I think William will try and do the

same the prince has made many official visits around the UK meeting a broad range of people who make a difference to their Community with Kate at his side he has also carried out overseas tours on behalf of the queen to the Commonwealth and Beyond William and Kate to me are about the future I don't like to to look back and compare her to Diana because she is her own woman and William and Kate I think have their own idea of what they want to do and I think you know you see the these two people

moving forward and taking the monarchy forward I say in my book that modernization is a very hard word to use in the context of the royal family because the royal family is built on history and tradition and protocol but actually in William and Kate you see a future king and queen who are driving it forward and taking it on to the next step on the Queen's Platinum Jubilee year William and Kate Ted the Caribbean to Mark the occasion their Journey was met with somewhat mixed reviews William made an important speech in which he observed the

Need For Change next year I know you're all looking forward to celebrating 50 years of Independence your golden anniversary and with Jamaica celebrating 60 years of Independence this year and bise celebrating 40 Years of Independence last year I want to say this we support with pride and respect your decisions about your future relationships evolve friendship [Music] endures William's beloved Grandma the queen sadly died in September 2022 the nation went into mourning and grief was felt worldwide [Music] but there is no pause in the continuity of the monarchy King Charles III was proclaimed and William became

first in the line of succession in the new King's first televised broadcast he announced William and Katherine would become the new Prince and Princess of Wales as my Heir William now assumes the Scottish titles which have meant so much to me he succeeds me as duke of Cornwell and takes on the responsibilities for the Dutchy of Cornwell which I have undertaken for more than five decades today I am proud to create him Prince of Wales to whog cry although his title has changed he still offers the same dedication to duty and service it is likely

William will have to take on more events and engagements in his new role well I think that William is already fulfilling his role as Prince of Wales I mean he's lived in Wales he lived in angle SE um he's he's worked there he has um I think he's he's done so much in such a short time and he has such respect from people that I don't think people will compare him to his father I think his father's position of Prince of Wells was unique and William's position of Prince of wells is very much William and

Catherine together I think he will be very much a king who knows his own mind William is a very determined man I think he's mindful of history and won't do anything extraordinary but I think he's also very much much more a man of the of the Modern Age and of the people than uh any previous monarchs Prince William has clearly demonstrated his ability to win hearts and Minds wherever he goes with a genuine warmth and care for people he meets in the years to come as he serves as Prince of Wales he will no doubt

continue to follow his duty and support his father King Charles III in the fullness of time when he ascends to the throne as king he will take inspiration from those who have served before him whilst modernizing the monarch key in his own unique way for now William remains Prince of Wales King in waiting [Music]