Kate Middleton Just Marked a Major Royal First (& It Has a Special Link to Prince William)

During the visit, the Princess of Wales got an overview of the station’s recent missions, including their NATO support work in Poland. She also met with the Quick Reaction Alert team, one of the U.K.’s around-the-clock units that protects national airspace, and checked out a Typhoon jet up close, according to People.

The royal also explored the new Typhoon Future Synthetic Training facility, where pilots train for real-world missions using advanced simulation tech. To round out the day, she spent time with the station’s Welfare Team, chatted with RAF personnel about their roles and connected with families who support service members behind the scenes.

Back in August 2023, King Charles appointed Princess Catherine as the Royal Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Coningsby as part of a bigger reshuffling of military roles across the royal family.

Along with that title, she also became Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm and Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards. But the RAF Coningsby role has a personal twist: it’s the same base Prince William was linked to when Queen Elizabeth gave him an honorary role there in 2008.

Now, both the Prince and Princess of Wales share official ties to the station.

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