High-spiritedWilliam’s final air ambulance shift
THE Duke of Cambridge smiled and joked with colleagues as he posed for a group photo ahead of his last shift as an air ambulance pilot.
William announced in January that he would be ending his career with the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA), and has clocked up more than two years flying medical crews to emergencies from a base at Cambridge Airport.
To mark his final shift before moving on to life as a full-time member of the Royal Family, he posed for a photograph with colleagues in front of the Airbus H145 helicopter, and he appeared in high spirits.
A photographer said “very, very formal, this”, prompting William to break the ice.
Joking with the crew’s doctor, Dr Adam Chesters, the Duke gestured to some kit the medic was wearing around his neck and said: “Do you have to wear those as well? Take those off. They haven’t been cleaned in two years.”
He then went back into the air ambulance headquarters and took part in the pilots’ briefing and a briefing with the medical team before beginning the night shift.
A statement issued by Kensington Palace earlier this year said William and Kate wanted, as they had in previous years, to increase their official duties on behalf of the Queen and their charity work, which would mean more time in London.
The Duke said in the statement in January: “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.”