Commodore Catherine! Kate Middleton is making her first visit to a Royal Air Force base in a royal role she received from King Charles.
On Oct. 2, the Princess of Wales, 43, visited RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, England, marking her inaugural visit to the station since becoming its Royal Honorary Air Commodore in 2023.
King Charles, 76, appointed his daughter-in-law as Royal Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Coningsby in August 2023, news revealed in a wider announcement about new military appointments for nine working members of the royal family.
The Princess of Wales was also announced as Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm and Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards at that time, with the RAF Coningsby role linking her to her husband, Prince William, in a sentimental way. The late Queen Elizabeth named her grandson as the Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Coningsby in 2008, meaning that the Prince and Princess of Wales both have official roles with the base in a rare royal overlap.
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Princess Kate visited RAF Coningsby for a firsthand introduction to the station and its work as part of the Royal Air Force, which was the British Army branch that Prince William trained and served with during his time as a search and rescue pilot.
Upon her arrival, the Princess of Wales — dressed in a gray suit and heels — received an overview of RAF Coningsby’s work on recent operations, including activity in Poland to support NATO. RAF Coningsby recently received the Stainforth Trophy for excellence in operational activities, making it a model place for Princess Kate to learn more.
She will then move to meet personnel from Quick Reaction Alert, the RAF’s 24/7 mission to protect U.K. airspace. RAF Coningsby is just one of two Quick Reaction Alert stations in the U.K., making its role vital.
There, the Princess of Wales will view a Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon aircraft, which responds to potential threats, and then head to the Typhoon Future Synthetic Training facility.
The newly opened space provides integrated environments for pilots to train and conduct complex exercises with real-world mission software and tactics, making it an important place to train.
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