Prince William recently opened up about one particular aspect of his past that he ‘really misses’ in a heartbreaking admission during one of his official royal engagements
Since the conclusion of his summer break, Prince William has been pretty busy with official engagements as he gets back to work. His wife, Princess Kate, also announced that she will be returning to some royal duties after completing her course of chemotherapy, but noted that her primary focus will remain “doing what [she] can to remain cancer-free”.
In one of William’s recent engagements, he opened up about one aspect of his younger life that he “really misses” and even reportedly hinted that he might make a return to the activity – that he dedicated a big chunk of his life to – one day in the future.
William was visiting the Wales Air Ambulance headquarters on 10 September when he made the emotional admission. The Prince of Wales admitted during his time at the Llanelli, South Wales base that he “really misses” his own time in the Air Ambulance service.
William worked as an Air Ambulance pilot for two years, from 2015 to 2017 in East Anglia, and he also worked for a spell as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot – and he expressed during the visit to mark Air Ambulance Week that he might one day stage a “comeback” and fly helicopters again.
“‘I’d love to fly again, I could volunteer for a weekend to make a comeback,” William said. The heir to the throne also said during the visit, “I can’t stop talking about helicopters and medical kits…I miss it all, I’m quite keen to stay a bit longer.” William stepped down from his Air Ambulance role in 2017 to focus on his royal duties, and in 2021, he admitted that the experience had left a serious mark on him, and took an emotional toll due to its nature.
Speaking on the Time To Walk podcast by Apple, the future King admitted he found himself “taking home people’s trauma, people’s sadness”. William also said in the podcast, “Talking about those jobs definitely helped, sharing them with the team, and ultimately, in one case, meeting the family and the patient involved who made a recovery, albeit not a full recovery, but made a recovery – that definitely helped.”
However, despite finding ways to cope, the experience “still even affects me now” and has the ability to make him “quite emotional” at times. Prince George, William’s eldest child and second-in-line to the throne, has recently been conducted into the flying club, reportedly undergoing a flying lesson at White Waltham Airfield at just 11 years old.