William hangs up keys to the helicopter

PRINCE WILLIAM will today complete his last shift as an air ambulance pilot before returning to full-time royal duties, bringing to an end a spell which has had a profound influence on his life.

The Duke of Cambridge joined the East Anglian Air Ambulance service in March 2015, after serving for nearly five years as a helicopter pilot with the RAF’S Search and Rescue Force, and began piloting his first operational missions in July that year.

Since then he has carried out dozens of call-outs, attending road accidents, rescues and suicide attempts and landing his helicopter in residential gardens, car parks, beaches and roadsides across the region.

The prince revealed last year that his first ‘call-out’ as an air ambulance pilot was to the suicide of a young man, a job that led him to think deeply about the pressures on individuals. It was this kind of event which shaped William and his wife Catherine’s commitment to highlighting the growing problem of mental health and led them to set up the charity Heads Together.

Prince William, who was based at Cambridge Airport, said he had been “staggered” to discover that suicide was the biggest killer of men under the age of 45.

“In some of my charity work I have come across issues like this before, and coupled with my air ambulance work where my first job was a male suicide, I realised starkly how big a problem we have in this country,” he said.

In statement issued by Kensington Palace earlier this year, Prince William said: “It has been a huge privilege to fly with the East Anglian Air Ambulance. Following on from my time in the military, I have had experiences in this job I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and that will add a valuable perspective to my royal work for decades to come.”

Last September the prince contrasted this “exciting and challenging” job with the solitary nature of work as a member of the Royal family.