Prince William Reminisces on His Time as a Search and Rescue Pilot: ‘I Miss This Life’

Mar. 15, 2025

Prince William, Prince of Wales onboard the NSRI Lifeboat “Donna Nicholas” to meet with volunteers of the National Seas Rescue Institute during a visit to Simon’s Town Harbour on Nov. 7, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.Photo:Chris Jackson - Pool/Getty

Chris Jackson - Pool/Getty

On an engagement during his final day in Cape Town, South Africa,Prince Williamreminisced about his time as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.

On Nov. 7, the Prince of Wales, 42, met volunteers working for the National Seas Rescue Institute (NSRI), hearing about their lifesaving work and asking them what inspired them to get involved. According toThe Mirror, before hopping on a lifeboat, the future king asked how choppy the water was and, donning a life jacket, joked that he should maybe wear more gear so he didn’t get wet.

“Nice windy day today!” he joked. “How are the seas today? It’s quite choppy!”

As he took to the water in the lifeboat, the outlet reported that he said, after being asked if he’d ever done search and rescue work, “I miss this life. Any chance to get back, I’ll take.”

Prince William, Prince of Wales meets with volunteers of the National Seas Rescue Institute during a visit to Simon’s Town Harbour on Nov. 7, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.Chris Jackson - Pool/Getty

Prince William trained as a search and rescue helicopter pilot at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, from 2010 to 2013 and then worked as a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance from March 2015 to July 2017.

Also on Nov. 7, Prince William had the chance tomingle with well-wishersassembled to meet him. “I love Cape Town,” he said, perThe Mirror. “I’ve had the most amazing week here. I’ve really enjoyed it. I don’t want to go!”

After arriving in South Africa on Nov. 4, the Prince of Wales hosted the fourth Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony on Nov. 6, with four days’ worth of engagements prior to his departure on Nov. 7.

“My children would love to be here — so would Catherine,” William said on a walkabout about his wifeKate Middletonand their three children.

Chris Jackson/Getty

Elsewhere during the day, he revealed he was trying to teach his three kidsPrince George, 11,Princess Charlotte, 9, andPrince Louis, 6, about rip tides. “We’re trying to teach the children to understand currents,” the prince said. “The problem with rips is that you don’t know where they are going to appear.”

He also discussed the importance of swimming lessons, saying, “Bearing in mind the U.K. is an island, we should all know how to swim. It’s a life skill that might save your life one day.”

In 2009, Prince William joined C Flight, 22 Squadron as Lieutenant Wales and was a search and rescue pilot for three years. During that time, he took part in 156 search and rescue operations, a routine operational deployment to the Falkland Islands and qualified as an operational Captain, according to hisofficial royal biography.

He left operational duties with the Armed Forces in September 2013, just two months after the birth of his eldest child, Prince George. He later retrained as an Air Ambulance Pilot and worked for East Anglian Air Ambulance from 2015 to 2017.

Though he may miss the work, it wasn’t always easy.

Prince William, Prince of Wales onboard the NSRI Lifeboat “Donna Nicholas” to meet with volunteers of the National Seas Rescue Institute during a visit to Simon’s Town Harbour on Nov. 7, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.Chris Jackson - Pool/Getty

During a conversation in 2021 onApple Fitness+’sTime to Walk, he spoke of his own mental health struggles while doing the work.

“The moment I started the helicopter training, I realized that it was better than anything. It was one of those things that I just instantly took to and thought, ‘This is really cool.’ I really enjoy it,” William said.

During his work, the prince faced “difficult situations,” including “seeing patients and families ripped apart on almost a daily basis” and encountering “some things in life you don’t really want to see.”

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Prince William, Prince of Wales visits Kalk Bay Harbour, to speak to local fishermen and highlight the contributions of 2023 Earthshot Prize finalists, Abalobi, at Kalk Bay Harbour on Nov. 7, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.Aaron Chown - Pool/Getty

Aaron Chown - Pool/Getty

It was his work in search and rescue as an air ambulance helicopter pilot that inspired him to focus on supporting mental health and wellbeing as a tenet of his royal work. “We know mental health has been a taboo and a stigma for a long time all around the world. And it still is,” he said on the show. “I’d like to think, in the U.K. here and the U.S., it’s much more talked about, and it’s opening up. But there’s still a deep-rooted fear of understanding it. And we all need to go through a process of understanding why rather than just give in to those feelings and say, ‘Listen, it’s me. I’m the problem.’ It’s not. It really isn’t you.”

“And you’re not alone, and it’s okay. It’s about what you do next. It’s about having that boldness and that openness and that strength to go, ‘It’s going to be a long journey. It’s not going to be easy, but I’m going to get there,’ ” he added.

To that end, as he finished his South Africa trip on Nov. 7, Prince William took part in an emotional, candid interview where he owned that 2024 was “brutal” and“the hardest year in my life.”

source: people.com