Prince William's Service in the Royal Air Force


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We have the evidence from the CC (approved daily by The Queen) and the official programme for William's wedding that Louise is Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor. That is how she was referred to in both places on that day - so that is good enough for me to say that Louise's surname is Mountbatten-Windsor as the authority for that is The Queen herself.
 
Interesting discussion on Richard Palmer (Daily Express Royal Reporter) twitter site which links HMQs current illness with Williams decision (which we still on) to stay in RAF or go full time royal duties. Interesting that some people think its one or the other, ie the current compromise situation doesnt work. There is a comment put forward that William would want to be a hands-on Dad and this cant happen if he stays in the RAF (aren't there any fathers in the RAF? - dont worry, I know te answer!). Also that Catherine now seems based in London so that is a sign he's giving it up.

I suspect I'm posting this in the wrong place, but Im at a stage where I am easily confused. So apologies if Ive made a mistake.

But I found it interesting that HMQ's health raised such a lively discussion.
 
cepe said:
There is a comment put forward that William would want to be a hands-on Dad and this cant happen if he stays in the RAF (aren't there any fathers in the RAF? - dont worry, I know te answer!).
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In fairness, cepe, I think it would be very difficult for William to continue as a full-time RAF pilot, part-time royal and a really hands-on new parent. He already gets slammed for not doing enough royal engagements (being a SAR pilot apparently doesn't count as serving Queen and country), add a child that he wants to be there for for at least some dinnertime, bathtime, bedtime etc. routines, and I just don't think it would work.

Some seem to think that William is keeping the Queen and DoE's noses to the grindstone, forcing them to keep working so he can put his royal duties off, and that they'll basically retire if he becomes a full-time royal. Those who think that's the case clearly know nothing about HM and the DoE.
 
Deliberate - the following words - mini-break; posh friends; cost of clothes; cost of expensive hotel; lavish reception; [artied until late; "plenty of opportunity to relax recently; full detail of mustique holiday, including price; out walking with 3 protection officers.

Then this quote from the article on the Queen
"Although Buckingham Palace insists that the Queen has no intention of slowing down, her hospitalisation inevitably raises the question of whether the nation is asking too much of her and whether younger members of the royal family should shoulder more of her duties.

They are a very nasty media outlet because there is so little balance and a whole lot of bias in their articles.

EDIT: Sorry posted this whilst the mods were tidying up! IT was in answer to a post complaining about the Daily MAil.
 
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The Queen's slowing down, if it's going to happen, does not inevitably mean more duties for Will and Kate if there are other family members who are not stretched to the limit.

I know Charles and Anne have taken on a great deal of the work - but no idea how much Andrew, Edward and Sophie do. Then there are Gloucesters and Kents.
 
Firstly - she isnt slowing down that much - and she doesnt want to. Neither does the Duke of Edinburgh. And remember that they doe not undertake public engagements for at least 3 months a year.

I think Charles is nearly at his limit as PoW - so is Anne. Andrew and Edward might be able to do more but Sophie is only supposed to do 3 days a week as she has young children who attend day school. There are no "Kents" - just the one and he is close to 80. The Glos could take on more but he is 68.

I think it should be William and Catherine but I think Charles and the Queen want to give them more time as a couple. I dont think the public generally would agree with that.

I think that with Angmer House (wrong name I think) possibly being made ready, an SAR being based in Suffolk (because I think they would move him from Anglesey), where Harry is currently based as well, I think he might extend his time with the RAF.
 
The problem is that even though the Queen might not be slowing down much, or intend to slow down, at some point she will - and that might be sooner rather than later (who can say?) And if that is in the near future, it might not be possible for Will to continue to serve in the RAF whether for practical reasons or PR reasons.

I'm not saying this is fair or unfair to Will and Kate and their baby, I think this is the harsh reality. I personally think he really wants to stay in the RAF, and the BRF will try to make this possible for him, but they also answer to the public, it seems.
 
cepe said:
I think Charles is nearly at his limit as PoW - so is Anne. Andrew and Edward might be able to do more but Sophie is only supposed to do 3 days a week as she has young children who attend day school. There are no "Kents" - just the one and he is close to 80. The Glos could take on more but he is 68.
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I don't think the idea of William (and Catherine and even Harry) taking on more has to go hand in hand with the idea of HM doing less - although we'll see how this current health problem does or does not affect her slowing down in the future.

I'm not sure why you think there are no Kents though - there are 4 Kents (really 5, if you include Princess Alexandra, who was born a Kent) and 2 Gloucesters. There is the Duke and Duchess of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Alexandra (formerly of Kent), and the Duke and Duchess of Kent. To the best of my knowledge, each does perform Royal Duties, although they are all in the age range between Charles and HM, so they may not be looking to take on more duties.

That said if the whole idea of William leaving his military career is so that he can do more Royal Duties, why isn't more being made of the duties done by the Yorks, Harry, the Wessexes, or Camilla? Camilla especially, in my opinion, could be doing more and would be more appropriate to take on duties from HM or The DoE as she is married to the next monarch. Also, unlike William, she doesn't have a career right now, nor is she anticipating the birth of her first child.
 
The Duchess of Kent has withdrawn from public life and did so a number of years ago, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent do not do royal duties, and PRincess Alexandra does maybe 1 or 2 a month and she is 76 (I admit she does so very little that I didn't include her).

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are the only members of that family to undertake royal duties and although they could undertake more at a push, they are probably doing more now than ever.

Andrew is the only York undertaking royal duties - he is doing over 500 pa; Edward is doing over 500 and Sophie is there abouts but they do have young children.

The ones expected to up the ante are the younger royals and unless Eugenie and Beatrice are allowed to undertake royal duties, its down to William and Catherine, then Harry.

EDIT: Checked the numbers from Iluvberties figures from last year:

York and Wessex - 450 each
Sophie - 360
Camilla - 340
D/Gloucester - 352
Dss/Gloucester - 151 (the Gloucester do a lot of events on their own, rather than with each other)
D/Kent 249
P Alexandra - 107

Iluvbertie does a great job tracking these events every week.

William has done 1 this year, and Catherine 3 - although she will have doubled this by Tuesday evening!
 
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personally i think it is the press that makes such a big deal about william giving up the RAF and being a FT royal. As that means more work for them -more tours, more photos, bigger paychecks.

As soon as William does resign from the RAF, then the clamor will be one more BRF member living off of the people (even though they don't).

i think the younger royals have helped and will continue to do more so is my taking the royal tours off of HM and DoE's plate. I think they truly are getting too old to travel that extensively and intensely. Those tours are not easy. i think W&K and Harry are very good at them. And with planning that concentration of events and good will across the world can fit in all of their respective schedules.

HM has already started handing off things to Charles - but she is the supreme believer in they have to see me to believe me.

I do hope that HM and DoE do make lighter schedules....longer weekends at Windsor. but the business of being queen doesn't stop and i don't see her delegating that anytime soon.
 
cepe said:
Firstly - she isnt slowing down that much - and she doesnt want to. Neither does the Duke of Edinburgh. And remember that they doe not undertake public engagements for at least 3 months a year.
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It doesn't particularly matter if they want to, if their health is at risk it will be a matter of they need to.
 
While I fully understand why William wants to stay in the RAF, it is more important that he looks at the advaned age of his grandparents and realise that he should be doing much, much more on the royal side of things. On top of this he has a growing family. the Queen and DoE deserve to take it easier at their time of life, yet are currently unable to defer and more duties onto their children as they are already fully worked, and their grandsons (plus Kate) should be playing more of a part. It should be Bea and Eug having full time careers and doing occasional engagements - yet the heir and spare to the throne are doing the exact same thing. Harry should be allowed to continue in the army til Charles is King but then he too should take a full time royal role. If they are not full time royals then i do not see why they should be allowed to live rent free in palaces or recieve publicly funded protection. They should earn their position.
 
What we have always known is that the SAR do dangerous work - what some people question is how much William actually does himself.
royal-blue said:
...If they are not full time royals then i do not see why they should be allowed to live rent free in palaces or recieve publicly funded protection.
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The reason they get publicly funded protection is simple - the police believe that they need it. Harry needs it more now since he was in Afghanistan and took part in the murder of a leading Taliban figure making him a high level target for extremist Muslims.

The police could and do give full time protection to lots of people who aren't high profile because the police determine that they need it. In the case of the royals who have it that is also the case.
 
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Iluvbertie said:
What we have always known is that the SAR do dangerous work - what some people question is how much William actually does himself.
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If he has a replacement for part of his job, the media would have reported it. Thus I believe he simply does the same work as anybody else in the team. I wonder why people would think otherwise? The SAR crews of RAF Valley have a job to do. They have exactly the staff they need to do that job. There is no way one could get extra treatment without the media getting informed about it.
 
What I cannot fathom is what HM's hospitalisation due to gastroenteritis has to do with William's position as regards the RAF. I could understand if she had developed some kind of debilitating condition or disease, but gastro, unpleasant though it be, is neither a death sentence nor signalling that it is imperative she give up life as she (and we) know it and spend the rest of her reign lying elegantly on a chaise lounge and languidly waving her visitors to well upholstered chairs!
 
Actually gastro can be fatal - particularly in the elderly.
 
Confirmation of the shift to private company operating Search and Rescue

BBC News - Bristow Group 'to take over UK search and rescue'

This report is saying from 2015, whereas 2016 has been mentioned previously. I suppose there will be 1 year handover.

Change in helicopters used will mean complete retraining over time. William could still stay in until 2016.
 
EIIR said:
...Some seem to think that William is keeping the Queen and DoE's noses to the grindstone, forcing them to keep working so he can put his royal duties off, and that they'll basically retire if he becomes a full-time royal. Those who think that's the case clearly know nothing about HM and the DoE.
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feel the same way. I honestly believe that the Queen and DoE will slow down when they are ready to do so and not before. They'll move the Wales' grandchildren up when they decide it is time to do so. I don't think that the York girls will ever by on the full-time list. I have a feeling that HM and the DoE would prefer to keep their own children on the full-time royals list and I believe that Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward support the idea.
 
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Robert Jobson ‏@theroyaleditor 1m
Times reports P.William will decide within weeks whether to stay on in RAF as ministers confirm privatisation plans. I reckon he will quit.
 
I think he's already decided and its just that the reporters don't have a clue to what he'll do. I highly doubt he's going to go full time royal right now. I think if he can't find some sort of job part time that allows him to fly occasionally then he'll probably go to another branch of the military or be an instructor(both part time).

I do think he's going to have an increase in royal appearances.
 
Of course the reporters have no idea else we would already know. This 'decision' has been coming since November of last year, so has the one on Catherine's patronages, and so far nothing's occurred.
 
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What I meant by what I said is that I think the queen, Kate and and everyone important knows and probably have known for sometime his real plans.
 
It's all in the timing. It seems like an announcement of the Cambridges becoming full time royals will be a big deal, if thats what they will do. Them carrying on with military life is also a big deal.

I've been guessing they will make these announcements in their wedding anniversary month, April.
 
Great item, good video. Shame about the trolls on the DM site.
 
A royal to star in four episodes of a reality show, doesn't feel right to me.
 
Lumutqueen said:
A royal to star in four episodes of a reality show, doesn't feel right to me.
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"Reality show?" - its a documentary series made by BBC Wales covering all of the crews based at Valley and it includes Prince William because he captain's one of the crews.
 
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