A visit to Heathrow Airport yesterday saw Prince Charles meet an adorable member of the security team – a Cocker Spaniel puppy called Ned.
The Prince of Wales’ appearance at the busy airport, located near Windsor Castle, coincides with the 10th anniversary of Terminal 5, which was opened by The Queen in 2008.
prince charles visited heathrow airport to mark the 10th anniversary of terminal 5 (clarence house)
PRINCE CHARLES VISITS LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT TERMINAL 5 (heathrow)
Charles is, of course, no stranger to airports: last year, he undertook 172 engagements abroad, a third of his work load; he came out on top as the busiest Royal of 2017.
Part of the event saw Charles meet the security team which looks after the airport, including a number of detection dogs. Ned the puppy, who is in training to be an explosive detection dog, enjoyed the Prince stroking him under the chin; the Royal was licked in return, and chuckled as Ned wagged his tail enthusiastically.
Ned here is a nine-month-old cocker spaniel working for @metpoliceuk at @HeathrowAirport.
He’s being trained as a sniffer dog so when he grows up, he’ll be able to locate explosives at Terminal 5.
Ned that is, not Prince Charles ? ? pic.twitter.com/ph7zESkJLz— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 13, 2018
The Prince has two dogs at home that belong to his wife, Camilla: Bluebell and Beth, two rescue Jack Russells.
He also learnt about the Border Force’s work on security, such as case searches, and bio-security, which includes the confiscation of illegal products such as elephant tusks and animals skins; Prince Charles is president of the WWF, and supports conservation efforts, as well as projects to stop global warming and climate change, and recycling schemes.
Last year, he spoke about the ocean of plastic, and danger it poses to us humans, and more recently, campaigned for the world’s coral reefs to be restored.
the prince of wales views a number of confiscated items found by the uk’s border force (clarence house)
A reception took place with The Prince of Wales as guest of honour – and it was located on a plane! British Airways staff rubbed shoulders with the Royal aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for a ‘tea party’ with the airline’s Chairman and Chief Executive Alex Cruz and colleagues.
During the reception the future King met with STEM apprentices and young people working in a wide variety of services throughout the airport.
In his speech, Prince Charles spoke about his charity work, which has just been given a shake-up, and mentioned how he wishes to combine more organisational expertise and areas for the benefit of all: “We are combining the areas of culture, heritage, built environment and community education, currently operating in four individual charities, in a new, larger organisation to be called The Prince’s Foundation.”
“This will build on the work of my Dumfries House Trust over the past 11 years, where I have already seen how bringing different organisations together significantly magnifies their overall impact,” he added.
“My hope is that by creating a place where we can teach building, design, textile and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills alongside food and farming education programmes, we can begin not only to create the vocational capacity to protect, regenerate and re-use our historic heritage, but also to create our future heritage, and to inspire a new generation to adopt healthier and more sustainable ways of living in their communities.”
The royal guest was treated to a look inside the cockpit too, and given a run-down of some of its controls.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said, “It was an honour and a privilege to be able to show His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales some of the great work being done here by our colleagues and partner agencies that keep our airport safe. Security will always be our priority and investing in people and technologies to ensure this, happens on a continual basis.
“Heathrow is the UK’s busiest airport with 78 million passengers travelling through last year. It is protected by leading intelligence services, a designated Police Force and dedicated security colleagues that work 365 days a year. It is a real boost for them to meet The Prince who thanked them all for their work.
“Some of the most advanced passenger security and technology in the world can be found here at Heathrow and it was fantastic to show these to The Prince of Wales as we know he is the Royal Patron of Intelligence Services also.”
prince charles cuts the cake to mark 10 years of terminal 5 (heathrow)
Today also marks the 10th anniversary of @HeathrowAirport’s Terminal five.
HRH cuts the cake to mark the occasion. ? pic.twitter.com/h06pk8ojDE
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) March 13, 2018
Prince Charles cut a cake to mark the occasion, too, in the plane’s kitchen area.
