Many members of the Royal Family have a pilot's licence. Prince Albert (later King George VI) gained his pilot's licence in 1919, and was followed by his brothers, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), Prince Henry (later Duke of Gloucester) and Prince George (later Duke of Kent) in the 1920s and 1930s.
| Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, takes to the skies in 1918 |
The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) pictured in 1918. The Prince went on to gain his pilot's licence in the 1930s |
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The Duke of Edinburgh began flying in the 1930s and made his first solo flight in December 1952. He was presented with RAF wings on 4 May 1953, one month before The Queen's Coronation. In 1956, he qualified as a helicopter pilot, while he obtained his private pilot's licence for fixed-wing aircraft in 1959 and his helicopter licence in 1974.
The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York and The Earl of Wessex have carried on this family tradition. The Prince of Wales obtained his private pilot's licence in 1970 and gained his 'wings' in 1971. The Duke of York flew Sea King helicopters during the Falklands War of 1982. That same year, The Earl of Wessex also obtained his private pilot's licence. In addition The Prince of Wales and The Duke of York have also earned their parachute 'wings' during a course at RAF Brize Norton. The Duke of York gained his Private Pilot's licence for helicopters earlier this year.
One member of the Royal Family that you might not expect to have been an enthusiastic pilot was Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. In May 1952, The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret flew on the first jet airliner in the world, the de Havilland Comet I jet. After touring the de Havilland works and Comet production line at Hatfield in Hertfordshire, the Royal party flew over France, Italy and Switzerland before returning to Hatfield some four hours later.
It was soon learned that The Queen Mother had in fact taken the controls and actually flown the airliner. On returning to Hatfield, she sent a telegram to No. 600 (City of London) Squadron, of which she was the Honorary Air Commodore.
"I am delighted to tell you that today I took over as first pilot of a Comet aircraft. We exceeded a reading of 0.8 Mach at 40,000 ft. What the passengers thought, I really wouldn't like to say! Elizabeth R., Hon. Air Commodore, 600 Squadron."
Squadron Leader J. Meadows replied:
"Your squadron is overwhelmingly proud that their honorary Air Commodore piloted a jet as high and as fast as any of her squadron's pilots."
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