In an impromptu speech, the King said the moment was “tinged with great sadness after 32 years of knowing you all”.
He spoke of his “immense admiration” for the work of the Army Air Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan – and then endorsed his eldest son and successor.
“I do hope you’ll go from strength to strength in the future with the Prince of Wales as your new colonel-in-chief. The great thing is he’s a very good pilot indeed. So that’s encouraging,” said the King.
He spoke in front of an Apache helicopter on display at the Army Flying Museum at the corps’ base in Middle Wallop.
Prince William was formerly an RAF search and rescue pilot, spending three years at RAF Valley in Anglesey.
Ahead of Monday’s handover, Kensington Palace posted images of his last two visits to the Army Air Corps – in 1999 and 2008 – with the caption “time flies”.
Later in the day, the Prince of Wales embarked on his first engagement with the Army Air Corps – receiving a briefing on its work and inspecting training and operational aircraft.
Source Agencies
