• CRANWELL - AUGUST 01: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales trains in a jet at RAF Crwnwell in order to gain his 'wings' on August 01, 1971 in Cranwell, England. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)
    CRANWELL - AUGUST 01: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales trains in a jet at RAF Crwnwell in order to gain his 'wings' on August 01, 1971 in Cranwell, England. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)
  • The prince receives his wings at RAF Cranwell in August 1971
    The prince receives his wings at RAF Cranwell in August 1971
  • The prince with a jet plane at RAF Cranwell in 1971
    The prince with a jet plane at RAF Cranwell in 1971
  • Prince Charles is briefed by Wing Commander 'Hank' Martin before his flight in a Phantom Interceptor as part of his training
    Prince Charles is briefed by Wing Commander 'Hank' Martin before his flight in a Phantom Interceptor as part of his training
  • The prince while serving in the Royal Navy on board the HMS Minerva at Plymouth in 1973
    The prince while serving in the Royal Navy on board the HMS Minerva at Plymouth in 1973
  • The prince tackles an assault course at the Royal Marines Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, and achieves a first-class pass, in 1975
    The prince tackles an assault course at the Royal Marines Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, and achieves a first-class pass, in 1975
  • Prince Charles helps a colleague put on his helmet during his time with the 845 Naval Air Squadron in 1975
    Prince Charles helps a colleague put on his helmet during his time with the 845 Naval Air Squadron in 1975
  • The prince speaks with members of the Royal Regiment of Wales and the Parachute Regiment in Basrah, Iraq in 2004
    The prince speaks with members of the Royal Regiment of Wales and the Parachute Regiment in Basrah, Iraq in 2004
  • Prince Charles is shown an Apache helicopter by crew members at Wattisham Airfield in 2009
    Prince Charles is shown an Apache helicopter by crew members at Wattisham Airfield in 2009
  • Prince Charles climbs onboard the latest Hawk training jet during a visit to RAF Valley in 2009 in Holyhead, Wales
    Prince Charles climbs onboard the latest Hawk training jet during a visit to RAF Valley in 2009 in Holyhead, Wales
  • The prince on a British military helicopter en route to Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan on March 25, 2010
    The prince on a British military helicopter en route to Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan on March 25, 2010
  • Prince Charles sits for a group picture after presenting campaign medals to soldiers from the Black Watch in Fort George, Scotland, in 2010
    Prince Charles sits for a group picture after presenting campaign medals to soldiers from the Black Watch in Fort George, Scotland, in 2010
  • The prince visits First Battalion the Mercian Regiment to mark 10 years as Colonel-in-Chief and 40 years since becoming Colonel-in-Chief of the Cheshire Regiment at Bulford Camp in Salisbury in 2018
    The prince visits First Battalion the Mercian Regiment to mark 10 years as Colonel-in-Chief and 40 years since becoming Colonel-in-Chief of the Cheshire Regiment at Bulford Camp in Salisbury in 2018

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What is King Charles's military background referenced by Zelenskyy in pilot speech?

Monarch is an experienced aviator and trained to fly planes during his military service in the 1970s

Neil Murphy
Neil Murphy

February 08, 2023

  • English
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy used a historic speech in the UK's Houses of Parliament to praise King Charles's support for Ukraine, referring to the monarch’s own air force training to tell parliamentarians that in his country every pilot is a “king”.

The Ukrainian leader showed his knowledge of the king’s own Royal Air Force flying experience, as he told the assembled audience in Parliament that he wanted to tell the monarch something “very, very, very important”.

“In Britain, the king is an air force pilot and in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is a king,” he said, to applause.

King Charles shook the hands of Mr Zelenskyy during their meeting at Buckingham Palace, telling him: “We've all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long.”

King Charles trained as an aviator and flew planes for the RAF and a helicopter for the Royal Navy in the 1970s.

He was given his pilot's wings in 1971 after graduating from Cranwell in Lincolnshire, the college where Britain's budding military pilots are trained.

The king qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974 before joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, which operated from the Commando carrier HMS Hermes.

King Charles III meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Buckingham Palace. Getty
King Charles III meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Buckingham Palace. Getty

He was given command of his own ship, the minehunter HMS Bronington, for the final 10 months of his active service in the Royal Navy which ended in 1976.

King Charles was appointed to the rank of Marshal of the RAF in 2012, the highest rank in the British Royal Air Force.

He also ascended to the position Air Commodore-in-Chief of the RAF following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

King Charles last visited the Cranwell in 2008 for the Duke of Cambridge’s graduation ceremony, when Prince William became the fourth successive generation of the monarchy to become an RAF pilot.

The monarch gave up flying in 1994 after a plane that he was piloting crash-landed on Islay, an island off the western Scottish coast.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to train Ukrainian pilots, paving the way for them to potentially be able to fly sophisticated Nato-standard jets in the future.

Mr Zelenskyy used his speech to call for a coalition of nations to supply planes.

He said: “I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words: combat aircraft for Ukraine, wings for freedom.”

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  • It is the first of five events before the season-concluding Mena Tour Championship
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  • 15 previous Mena Tour winners are competing at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club  
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: February 08, 2023, 5:10 PM
UKKing Charles IIIVolodymyr Zelenskyy