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.
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It would have been his second public outing in as many days. On Jan. 15, William headed to the city of Birmingham for a visit to talk to the College of Paramedics and mark his new patronage supporting them. On the way back to London, he caught up with some fans of his favorite soccer team, Aston Villa, sharing a chat over a beer in a local pub.
Prince William is the Commander-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, a title that his father King Charles bestowed upon him in May 2024, making him the leader of his brother Prince Harry’s former regiment. The Duke of Sussex trained as an Army Air Corps pilot in 2009 and served with the Corps during his second tour in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013.
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While the King, 76, officially handed the colonelcy to William in a military ceremony at the Army Aviation Centre in Hampshire last May, the Prince of Wales has technically held the appointment for a little longer. Charles announced that William would hold the role in a slew of new military appointments for working members of the royal family, announced in August 2023, nearly a year after his accession to the throne.
Prince William has firsthand experience as a trained military pilot and served with the Royal Air Force’s Search and Rescue Force at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, from 2010 to 2013. He later retrained as an Air Ambulance Pilot and worked for East Anglian Air Ambulance from 2015 to 2017, continuing his career.
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The Wattisham regiment is about two and a half hours from Windsor, where Prince William lives with his wife Kate Middleton and their children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
On Jan. 14, the Princess of Wales announced that she is in “remission” from cancer following a surprise stop at the London hospital where she received treatment in 2024. William made his visit to Birmingham the following day, marking his first royal duty of the new year.
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