Village officials are eagerly preparing to welcome Prince William, the first Royal to be trained at RAF Shawbury.
It has been revealed that over the next four months His Royal Highness Prince William, aged 25, will be attached to the RAF.
As part of his new role, it has been confirmed that the Prince will be stationed for four or five weeks at RAF Shawbury to learn how to fly the Squirrel helicopter, used by the Defence Helicopter Flying School and the Central Flying School Squadron.
Squadron Leader Rich Allison, 36, has been in the RAF since 1991 and will be the Prince’s instructor. Mr Allison will help Prince William, or Flying Officer Wales as he will be known, to complete an intensive course on the basic helicopter flying techniques.
Mr Allison said: “It is both an honour and a challenge to know that you are going to be teaching the future King of England. He will be at RAF Shawbury for four or five weeks and will be treated as any other student would be.”
Squadron Leader Martin Locke, RAF Shawbury spokesman, said: “We are thrilled, and honoured to know that Prince William will be learning to fly helicopters at RAF Shawbury and is the first member of the Royal Family to be trained here.”
Simon Jones, who is the district councillor for Shawbury, is also looking forward to the royal visit. He said: “It is great news for RAF Shawbury and I would be pleased to meet him.”
Prince William will be instructed to wear his RAF uniform during his training and will ‘be treated as any junior officer’ and ‘will not be given any preferential treatment’. His four-month attachment started on January 4 and after completing a variety of different courses he will arrive at RAF Shawbury.
It is part of a wider programme of events to prepare Prince William for his future role as head of the Armed Services. He will learn the RAF’s structure, roles, history and ethos and the flying training will help him to understand the challenges of modern air power. A graduation ceremony is planned for April.