Today the Princess of Wales visited RAF Coningsby, the first time since becoming Royal Honorary Air Commodore in 2023 – and revealed her youngest child fancies a career as a pilot.
Catherine began her visit by having a private meeting with Group Captain Paul O’Grady, Station Commander and Warrant Officer Nikki Nolan, Station Warrant Officer on the activity of the past 18 months.
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Some of the discussion included RAF Coningsby’s involvement in Operation Shader in the Middle East and Operation Eastern Sentry, which is helping to boost NATO presence along its Eastern Flank amid the growing tensions with Russia.
Afterwards the Princess entered the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) hangar to view a typhoon with one of its pilots, Wing Commander Luke ‘Wilko’ Wilkinson. Catherine was engrossed as he pointed out the hardware including missiles attached below the wings.
The QRA provides a 24/7 interception response, supported by RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, to aid national security. Jets can be scrambled in 10 minutes to reach London from Lincolnshire.
Next, Catherine went to view the Typhoon Future Synthetic Training Facility, where she was invited to go inside the simulator by instructor Geraint White. While inside, she told the instructor she had tried a simulator used to train helicopter pilots, but not one used to fly planes.
Kate seemed to enjoy her flight and performed an aerobatic stunt of ‘loop the loop’.
Group Captain Paul O’Grady said, ‘she seems to be a natural pilot so we might have to get her qualified and get her flying a Typhoon, if she’s up for it’.
The Princess also chatted with two trainee pilots on secondment from RAF Valley, where her husband Prince William was stationed between 2010 and 2013.
Wearing a Bella Freud grey check trouser suit with an RAF commodore’s badge and Stuart Weitzman navy pointed heels, Catherine spent time talking to personnel and their families. She also spoke of how her youngest, Prince Louis, aged seven, is keen to be a fighter pilot himself. She added ‘I’m going to tell them it takes eight years and a lot of hard work’.
In ‘The Lounge’ – a communal space for those living at the station – she met Wing Commander Nick Startup, Officer Commanding, Base Support Wing and members of RAF Coningsby’s Welfare Team, and personnel including aviators from Junior Ranks, to hear about their roles and experiences on site.
She was presented with three toy Typhoons and key rings for her children, George, Charlotte and Louis, she noted: ‘They will be very upset that I’ve seen a Typhoon without them!’
She was also given a cup of tea by staff and was clearly impressed, saying: ‘It’s a very good cup of tea.’
At the end of the engagement, The Princess was surrounded by toddlers as she took part in a walkabout to meet families living on and around the base. As she departed, 90 minutes later than originally planned, Kate told her hosts: ‘I’m sorry, I totally outstayed my welcome!’
Group Captain Paul O’Grady said of her visit: ‘It’s been absolutely brilliant, having the Honorary Air Commodore here, Princess Catherine.
‘It’s her first visit to Coningsby and to give her a demonstration of what it is that operationally we deliver for the UK and for the Royal Air Force, but also, more importantly for me, it’s meeting the men and women that deliver it. And they’ve had a fabulous time and enjoyed meeting her.’
