Just a week ago, Prince Harry returned to the United Kingdom after more than four months for a special service at the Invictus Games in London. A moment in which he did not plan to meet again with his father, King Charles III, due to scheduling issues; since the monarch had just resumed his official commitments after being away for several months due to the serious illness that he suffers from.
However, just a few days later, King Charles III did appear with his other son, Prince William, at a rare joint official event held last Monday. A very special event, since the British sovereign gave his heir the position of colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps; a position the 75-year-old monarch held for 32 years, in front of an Apache helicopter, and watched over by service personnel at the Army Flight Museum in southern England.
An act that reinforces the reign of Charles III, but that some consider a slight to Prince Henry, who served in this regiment during the decade in which he was in the British Army, something that always filled him with pride, despite the fact that After resigning from being a member of the British royal family in 2020, his military honors were taken away.
At the ceremony transferring the title to his son, King Charles said he was saying goodbye with “sadness,” but that the Army Air Corps would go from “strength to strength” under the command of his eldest son. “Take good care of yourselves,” the monarch asked them. “I can’t tell you how proud I have been to have been involved with you all this time.”
During the tour, the monarch also shared some unpublished details about the treatment he is receiving for his illness. The king was chatting with British army veteran Aaron Mapplebeck, who commented that he had suffered from testicular cancer whose chemotherapy treatment had caused him to lose his sense of taste. A sequel that the monarch confirmed that he had also suffered with his treatment, which began last February.
“He’s a really good pilot,” the king said of his eldest son, Prince William, who is also a former search and rescue helicopter pilot for Britain’s Royal Air Force.
Following the ceremony, Prince William donned his military uniform and spent time with the Corps, watching their training, checking equipment and chatting with soldiers.
This visit marks the last official engagement of King Charles III since his return to work at the end of April, almost three months after Buckingham Palace announced that he was being treated for an unspecified type of cancer.
Prince William, 41, assumed his role as crown prince throughout this period, replacing his father and accompanying Queen Camilla. However, he also temporarily stepped back from official duties for a few days in March and April after his wife, Kate Middleton, revealed that she was receiving preventive chemotherapy for cancer.