Prince William cancels his visit to the Army Air Corps due to unforeseen circumstances

The Prince of Wales today postponed an engagement with the regiments of Wattisham, Suffolk, due to severe weather conditions.

Prince William, 42, Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, was due to meet with service personnel from both units today, observe elements of regular training and learn first-hand about the regiments.

However, the weather conditions in Suffolk – foggy and a gentle breeze – would have restricted William’s planned programme, forcing him to cancel the event until further notice.

Visits to the Army Air Corps regiment at Wattisham, described online as ‘the pit stop crew for the Army’s helicopters’, are by appointment only.

William regularly meets with various soldiers at locations across the UK, including last month at Picton Barracks, Bulford Camp, Wiltshire.

The father-of-three sent his sincere apologies to those from the Suffolk regiments who had to meet him, adding that he hopes to reschedule his visit as soon as possible.

William completed his training as a helicopter pilot with the RAF Search and Rescue Force in 2010, after which he flew an air ambulance for two years before stepping down to take on more royal roles on behalf of Queen Elizabeth.

Despite missing today’s event, William surprised day drinkers at Wetherspoons yesterday on his way back from an official engagement.

The future king was spotted at the Birmingham New Street Station branch of the popular pub chain after appearing at an event to mark his new role as patron of the College of Paramedics.

Apparently keen to speak to Aston Villa fans like him as the team played Everton tonight, he had a pint of cider.

He bought a round of beer for eight Villa fans and drank a pint of Bulmers cider. He stayed there for about half an hour before catching the train back to London.

Steve Jones, 56, a Villa fan for 35 years, said: ‘We were contacted by the club and said that Prince William wanted to meet a delegation of Villa fans while he was in Birmingham as he wanted to keep up to date with everything what was going on in Birmingham. Villa.

‘He was fantastic. I was quite surprised at how involved he was in the club, his interest. He is not a fan of nice weather. He really loves the club with passion.

‘We talked about the club, the transfers, the upcoming Champions League trip to Monaco and everything to do with Aston Villa. He asked a lot of questions – he has a good interest.

‘It was 95 percent of the conversations about Villa, because that’s our shared interest, but a little bit about his family. Young George is a Villa fan, but he didn’t want all three of them to be Villa fans.

‘He was hugely interested and seemed like a very genuine man, and all he wanted to do was talk about Villa.

‘He said he was hopeful of beating Everton tonight and would be watching, but he was wary of the new manager syndrome, or rather the old manager syndrome.’

Earlier at the Birmingham Conference and Events Center he received well wishes for his wife Catherine as he chatted to paramedics about issues such as training, drones and hospital waiting times.

Among them was Ed Griffiths, who served as a search and rescue paramedic with William at RAF Valley in Anglesey when the prince was a search and rescue pilot.

William patted him on the shoulder and shared a joke before adding: “The last time I saw you was on a beach.”

Tracy Nicholls, Chief Executive Officer of the College of Paramedics, said: ‘I would like to say how pleased we are to hear about Her Royal Highness and send her our best wishes.’ Willem nodded his head.

It comes after the Princess of Wales revealed on Tuesday that her cancer was in remission.

William asked Jess Rousen, a paramedic and nurse who has worked in Wales for 27 years: ‘How is morale?’

Jess described how ‘morale was low’ as some hospitals were ‘flooded’. She said some paramedics finish a shift and return 12 hours later only to find themselves back with the same patient. She added, “But it is what it is.”

Gary Clarke, a paramedic from Belfast, told William that full hospitals have a major impact on patients and paramedics. He said the amount of time they have to spend with patients has increased.

He said: ‘It’s not great. There are a lot of patients waiting, so you have to build a bond with the patients in the ambulance.’

William replied, “It’s hard because you want to get them to the hospital as quickly as possible.”

Gary said backlogs have worsened post-Covid, but says the College of Paramedics helps you ‘cope with what you’re going through’ and ‘have that as a back-up if you need to’.

Jean Cragg, a first responder in the East Midlands for 43 years, told William: ‘When I hear my colleagues all talking about waiting times, it’s really difficult for everyone, but there’s no real quick fix available.’

Speaking to a new recruit who had worked as a paramedic for less than a year, William said: ‘It’s an exciting journey you’re on.’

Claire Fitchett, specialist paramedic at Hampshire and Isle of Wight, told the Prince that ‘being a paramedic can be a lonely place to work’ and said it was good that so many paramedics were together at the conference.

She also told William that paramedics were using new technology. She told him they are investigating using drones to fly automated external defibrillators (AEDs) from the mainland to the Isle of Wight.

William added: “We still need people on the ground, so we have to work for a while.”

And he asked if there were any figures on whether the number of people wanting to train as paramedics had risen or fallen post-Covid.