Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, arrived in the Helmand province of Afghanistan last Tuesday. On Wednesday, he met with soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, the Rifles, according to an article from Monsters and Critics.com. The prince is the Royal Colonel of the battalion.

The 2nd Battalion has been in Afghanistan for five months. They are working closely with the Afghan police force and army, and are expected to be there for a few more weeks, of which Prince Edward said that he hoped were “painless and productive”. The prince spent time with the battalion, talking with them and dining with them.

Major Marc Briggs told Sky News, “It’s an honor to have our Royal Colonel come to see the battalion when we’re so far forward in the fight”, and “The visit of His Royal Highness only reinforces the level of public support we’ve experienced”.

After spending two days in Afghanistan, Prince Edward travelled to Bahrain to visit with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

To read about, and to discuss Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, please visit this thread.

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 Last Saturday, over 200 people attended the grand opening of the Edward Brooks military barracks in Oxfordshire. The new barracks cost £4 million to build, and were officially opened by the Duchess of Gloucester.

Click here to see the photo from the Oxford Mail

The Oxford Mail reports that the barracks have been named for Edward Brooks, who was a local Territorial Army hero during World War I. Brooks was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917. Many members of Sargent Major Brooks’ family were in attendance. His three grandchildren told the Mail that they were “extremely proud the barracks had been named in his honor”.

The Duchess was presented with a bouquet of pink and white flowers from nine year-old Rosemary Dicks, who stated that she was nervous, but was excited to give the flowers to the royal guest. “It was a real honor for me”, the nine year-old told reporters. After the official opening, the Duchess was given a tour of the facility. This is not the first military experience for the Duchess. She serves as Royal Colonel of the 7th Battalion, The Rifles.

Now that the new facility is opened, Territorial Army units will move from their previous facility, Slade Park, in Headington. It will also house the D Squadron of 202 Field Hospital and the Thames Valley Air Training Corps. Doctors with the Field Hospital are hoping that the new facility will help to modernize the army’s image. 32 year-old Dr. Jennifer Dinsdale said that, “It’s an honor the Duchess has opened the facility and remembered both TA units currently have members deployed in Afghanistan”.

To read about, and to discuss the Duchess of Gloucester, please visit this thread.

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Click on image to see photo at koninklijkhuis.nl

 Yesterday Queen Beatrix reived president Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan at an audience in Huis ten Bosch palace, The Hague. The president visited The Hague as he attended the special Afghanistan summit in the World Forum. Other attendees were US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The latter stayed with the queen at Huis ten Bosch Palace.

Earlier that day the queen visited an elementary school in Rotterdam. The queen was accompanied by Sharon Dijksma, state secretary of Education. The group inspected the school and talked to teachers, parents and the director of the Bloemhof school. The school is working with the so-called ‘Wanitaconcept’ to help students that are behind. Education in arts and getting to know yourself are important parts in this concept.

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