Royal Family News: Kate Middleton And Prince William’s Surprise Outing Has A Special Meaning

British Royal family news reveals that Prince Philip served in the Air Training Corps as Air-Commodore-in-Chief for over 60 years until 2015 when he passed on the mantle of military patronage to Kate. During the Queen’s milestone 95th birthday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited 282 (East Ham) Squadron, Air Training Corps in East London, and got to see the people serving in the corps and the equipment they use.

Royal Family News: Kate Middleton And Prince William Are Back To Performing Their Royal Duties Following Prince Philip’s Funeral

On Saturday, April 17, The Queen’s husband was laid to rest at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. At the time, the couple shared never-seen-before pictures of the late Duke of Edinburgh with his great-grandkids, some of which were taken by Kate.

Kate, 39, and William, 38, visited the 282 (East Ham) Squadron, Air Training Corps and met with cadets who were involved in training exercises and leadership tasks before going on to meet and speak with the young people who were gearing up to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh awards.

The global award was founded to cater to young people and is a youth development program headed by Prince Philip – a program that Kate participated in during her time at Marlborough College.

Every year, approximately 3000 Duke of Edinburgh awards go to the Air Cadets, amounting to over 190,000 awards since the program began in 1956.

Towards the end of the visit, the squadron took part in Three Cheers Salute in honor of the late Prince Philip who was an excellent flyer during his own time.

It was a tribute to his grandfather when Prince William and his wife visited the Air Corps as their first official royal duty after the 99-year-old Duke of Edinburgh’s death. It also marked the first official royal family member outing after Prince Philip’s Funeral on Saturday.

Duchess Kate, who was passed on the role after Prince Philip stepped back in 2015 as the Honorary Air Commandant, even hopped into a flight simulator to get a closer look at the equipment used by the Air Cadets. She was also reportedly talked through the controls of the Grob Tutor, a light aircraft used by thousands of cadets each year for air experience flights.

Royal Family News: A Royal Visit To The Air Corps

The official Kensington Royal Handle shared a photo of Kate and William interacting with the cadets at the Air Training Corps, along with a message: “The Duke and Duchess visited @282ATC, which supports its cadets to gain skills and qualifications across a variety of different disciplines from aviation, cyber and radio communications to adventure training, music, First Aid and air experience flying, gliding and a space syllabus.”

“It was a really unique experience and the cadets only found out an hour before they arrived. It was wonderful for [the couple] to see the legacy,” Group Captain AI Lewis said.

The couple stepped out in dark clothing as they continued their 2-week mourning. Kate donned a black outfit with gold buttoned-down details, while William went for a classic navy blue suit.