New Engagements announced for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
and Prince Harry

The coming months will see The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry undertake a busy autumn programme.

Following The Duke’s departure from the East Anglian Air Ambulance, The Duke and Duchess will increasingly base their family at Kensington Palace, as Their Royal Highnesses continue to increase their official work on behalf of The Queen and for the charities and causes which they support. As previously announced, Prince George will begin school at Thomas’s Battersea in early September.

Over the course of the Autumn, The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry will undertake a number of away days and visits to communities, charities and organisations across the UK, as well as engagements and visits overseas. In late September, Prince Harry will attend the Invictus Games Toronto 2017, the international sporting event launched in 2014 by His Royal Highness for wounded, injured and sick Servicemen and women. In October and November respectively, Prince Harry and The Duke and Duchess will undertake official visits on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Further details of both visits will be announced in due course.

In addition to undertaking engagements in support of The Queen, The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry will continue to highlight the important work of their patronages, and to champion issues of interest to Their Royal Highnesses. A particular focus will be the next phase of the Heads Together campaign to change the national conversation on mental health, with more activity in this space starting around World Mental Health Day in October.

Amongst other projects, The Duke will shine a light on initiatives dealing with homelessness, anti-bullying and conservation, and will continue his work with The Royal Foundation’s Cyberbullying Taskforce. The Duchess will continue to focus attention on the issues of addiction, family breakdown and the importance of early intervention. Prince Harry will progress his work in the field of sport for social change and around the environment and conservation, as well as continuing to support veterans and drawing attention to HIV/AIDs on both a national and international level.

Upcoming engagements:

• Prince Harry to visit Manchester, Monday 4th September, 2017
• The Duchess of Cambridge will visit Family Action at Hornsey Road Children’s Centre, London, Monday 4th September, 2017
• The Duke of Cambridge to attend The National Mental Health and Policing Conference, Oxford, Tuesday, 5th September, 2017
• The Duke of Cambridge to host reception for the under-20 England Football Team, Kensington Palace, London, Tuesday 7th September, 2017

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Prince Philip and I were deeply saddened to learn of the terrible flooding and landslides in Freetown that have led to the deaths of so many people.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all who have lost loved ones and those whose homes and livelihoods have been affected.

Elizabeth R.

The Duke of Rothesay, accompanied by The Duke of Cambridge,
will attend the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Edinburgh Castle

16th August 2017

The Duke of Rothesay, accompanied by The Duke of Cambridge, Commodore-in-Chief, RN Scotland, HMNB Clyde and The Submarine Service, will attend the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle.  

The Duke of Rothesay will be the Guest of Honour at the Tattoo which this year has the dual theme of “The Year of the Aircraft Carrier” to mark the launch of HMS PRINCE OF WALES, of which HRH The Duchess of Rothesay is Lady Sponsor, and, to mark Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, “A Splash of Tartan”. 

In addition to attending the Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle, Their Royal Highnesses will view a short pre-Tattoo performance on the Forecourt at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The first Edinburgh Tattoo took place in 1950 and there were eight items in the programme. The first overseas regiment to participate was the Band of the Royal Netherlands Grenadiers. The year was 1952, and there were also performers from Canada and France. Since then, 48 countries from across six continents have been represented at the Tattoo.

Brigadier David Allfrey, a former Commander of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, has been producer of the Tattoo since 2011. New £16 million spectator stands and hospitality facilities were put in place at the Castle Esplanade for the summer of 2011.

The Tattoo has sold out for eighteen consecutive years and more than 14 million people have attended the Tattoo since it began. The annual audience is around 220,000. Not a single performance of the Tattoo has ever been cancelled.

The Tattoo has always been staged at Edinburgh Castle. The word ‘tattoo’ comes from the closing-time cry in the inns in the Low Countries during the 17th and 18th centuries – ‘Doe den tap toe’ (‘Turn off the taps’). The Tattoo is set up and run for charitable purposes and over the years, it has gifted some £8 million to service and civilian organisations.

At the last official independent count, visitors to the Tattoo contributed an estimated £77 million to the Scottish economy.

For further information please visit www.edintattoo.co.uk.

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The official residence of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall

1st – 31st August 2017

Visit Clarence House, the official residence of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and one of the last remaining aristocratic townhouses in London.

Clarence House is the official London residence of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. Here Their Royal Highnesses receive official guests from this country and overseas on behalf of the nation, and bring together people from all walks of life through official seminars, lunches, receptions and dinners. Several thousand official guests are received at the House annually, many connected with the charitable organisations with which The Prince or The Duchess is involved.

The Prince of Wales first lived at Clarence House between the ages of one and three, when Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh moved there following their marriage. By the time of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s death in April 2002, more than 50 years had passed since the last major refurbishment of the house, and much work needed to be done before The Prince of Wales was able to take up residence.

The Royal Household Property Services carried out the refurbishment and worked with organisations such as the Forest Stewardship Council to specify and buy sustainable materials and timber from responsibly managed forests. The internal decoration was carried out under the direction of the interior designer, Robert Kime.

Robert Kime introduced new colour schemes and furnishings, while maintaining the familiar atmosphere of a much-loved family house. The arrangement of the rooms and the grouping of their contents remain recognisably as they were in Queen Elizabeth’s time, with much of Her Majesty’s collection of works of art and furniture in their former positions.

The Prince of Wales returned to Clarence House on 4 August 2003, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s birth.

To learn more about the history of Clarence House, accompanied by gorgeous pictures of its interiors, why not purchase your copy of Royal Life issue 25.

Opening times

• Monday to Friday 10:00-16:30 (last admission 15:30)
• Saturday and Sunday 10:00-17:30 (last admission 16:30)

A typical visit lasts 1 hour, including a 45 minute guided tour.

To book your tickets click here.

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Sunday, July 30th 2017

Every evening the city of Ieper falls silent at eight o’clock and the Last Post is played by the buglers of the Last Post Association. With the sounding of this bugle call, the two hundred and fifty thousand British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed on the Ypres Salient during the First World War are remembered.

The battlefields of the Salient came to define the war for many British and Commonwealth soldiers. The defence of the city at such great cost meant that it became hallowed ground. Winston Churchill said of Ypres, ‘a more sacred place for the British race does not exist in all the world’.

It was from here, along the Menin Road, that so many marched towards the frontline. After the war, when a location was being sought for a lasting memorial to these men, it seemed fitting for it to be built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in this place.

Today, the Menin Gate records almost fifty four thousand names of the men who did not return home; the missing with no known grave. Members of our families; our regiments; our nations; all sacrificed everything for the lives we live today.

At the Memorial’s inauguration, the British commander Field Marshall Lord Plumer spoke movingly to the assembled families, saying of their lost loved ones: ‘He is not missing; he is here’.

The local Police Superintendent attended the same inauguration ceremony. He heard the sounding of the Last Post and was so moved, that he and his friends later resolved to play it, here, every evening in perpetuity. A simple tribute from local people to those who fought.

We extend our deep gratitude to the Last Post Association and the people of Ieper for this daily act of homage in honour of our fallen.

During the First World War Britain and Belgium stood shoulder to shoulder. One hundred years on, we still stand together, gathering as so many do every night, in remembrance of that sacrifice.

Thank you for the honour that you do us.

The Duke of Cambridge on leaving the East Anglian Air Ambulance

As I arrive for work at East Anglian Air Ambulance this evening, my last shift with this incredible team, I wanted to say thank you to my colleagues, team mates and the people of East Anglia who I have been so proud to serve. Over the past two years I have met people from across the region who were in the most desperate of circumstances. As part of the team, I have been invited into people’s homes to share moments of extreme emotion, from relief that we have given someone a fighting chance, to profound grief. I have watched as incredibly skilled doctors and paramedics have saved people’s lives. These experiences have instilled in me a profound respect for the men and women who serve in our emergency services, which I hope to continue to champion even as I leave the profession. I am hugely grateful for having had this experience.

From the moment I joined, when that phone rang at the base for the first time, it was clear that I was a fellow professional, a pilot with a job to do – in such a team there can be no other option, but still I am grateful to my colleagues for accepting me so readily. At EAAA, our helicopters are airborne within four minutes of getting a call and can reach patients anywhere in the region within 25 minutes. We land in residential gardens, school playing fields, beaches, roadsides, anywhere it is safe to do so. As a pilot, my job is to get the medical team to the patient as quickly and safely as possible, so they can give treatment as soon as possible after injury. We are sent to only one per cent of ambulance call outs, where having a trauma team and getting the hospital to the patient quickly, can mean the difference between life and death. I have watched our medical team perform surgery on a patient within minutes of jumping off the helicopter – their level of skill is astounding. As a pilot at the scene, we will sometimes try and help by co-ordinating the area around the medical team, carrying their kit and doing whatever it takes to ensure they can focus on their work. It is a joint effort, and every member plays his or her role with great professionalism and dedication.

As a team, we travel to some very daunting incidents and we have been though some incredibly tough times together, witnessing some appalling tragedies. One of the first call outs I made was to a young man who had committed suicide; it was an incredibly tough day and had a profound effect on all of us, not least in my determination now to draw attention to this issue. Another rescue that sticks in my mind was to a young man who was involved in a road accident. His uncle in the car with him sadly didn’t survive, and I was sure that from what we were faced with he wouldn’t either – but thanks to the skills of our medical team he is alive today. We were first on scene and in such circumstances we all had to pitch in to fight to save the young man’s life. It is days like this, when you know you have made a difference, that give you the determination to keep going.

I have seen at first-hand how our doctors, paramedics, police, fire and emergency services teams work together with such skill and professionalism in stressful situations. I have also been very fortunate to work with an organisation which recognises the stress its staff deals with and puts their welfare as such a high priority. You need to be physically and mentally fit to do this job properly and so we are encouraged to talk through the things we have seen, to share the trauma within the team. I now know though that there are things that cannot be unseen and experiences that our first responders deal with on a daily basis that they will carry with them for life. I have the utmost respect for the job that our emergency services carry out, without fuss, on a daily basis.

Having had the great good fortune to experience serving the East Anglian Air Ambulance, I would like to finally say thank you to the community who fund, support and keep the air ambulance flying. As I hang up my flight suit, I am proud to have served with such an incredible team of people, who save lives across the region every day.

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