Dressed to the Hilt

[Jock Scot]

Nile.

Indeed they are pilots wings. Prince Charles served with the Royal Air Force and is a qualified pilot of jet aircraft amongst others and also qualified as a helicopter pilot when he served with the Royal Navy.

[BCAC]

Nile.

Indeed they are pilots wings. Prince Charles served with the Royal Air Force and is a qualified pilot of jet aircraft amongst others and also qualified as a helicopter pilot when he served with the Royal Navy.

True, Jock, but those are neither RAF nor Navy wings but actually Army wings so he must have qualified (with the AAC) during his Army service sometime. He certainly wouldn't wear anything he wasn't entitled to.

[Jock Scot]

True, Jock, but those are neither RAF nor Navy wings but actually Army wings so he must have qualified (with the AAC) during his Army service sometime. He certainly wouldn't wear anything he wasn't entitled to.

Indeed they are AAC wings and I have no idea of the protocols involved in his case, but I sort of assumed that RAF "wings" and RN "wings" would qualify him, in his case, to wear army(AAC) "wings" when wearing an Army uniform. I know not, but an interesting thought that I must investigate further.

Just a thought. I wonder if Prince William as a qualified RAF pilot wears AAC "wings" with his uniform as Colonel in Chief of the Irish Guards?

On quick investigation, Prince William wears his RAF "wings" whilst in Army uniform.

I can find no evidence(on a quick search) that Prince Charles qualified as an AAC pilot, but I suspect, but I don't know, his RN helicopter training is transferable to AAC "wings" when he is in Army uniform. He is also Colonel in Chief of the AAC, which may help explain things. I am still investigating!

[Chas]

Reference Prince William:



Sorry about the size, but definitely RAF wings.

Regards

Chas

[Riverkilt]

Sure hard to tell in the blur of the photo. Wish we'd be able to see the entire kilt and hose....

For what its worth back in War 2 my father wore reduced size RAF wings over the right pocket of his Army Air Corps uniform and his Army Air Corps wings in the usual spot. Perhaps if the Prince had multiple wings from multiple branches of service he'd wear them all...?

[creagdhubh]

Try these:

[Riverkilt]

Thanks!!! Fantastic look - kudos to the dressers and the uniform designers.

[OC Richard]

Try these:

Goes to show how much nicer the traditional Black Watch uniform is than the pastiche which is the uniform of the RRS. That hat! That feather! ugh! Give me the Red Hackle on the plain bonnet.

[Jock Scot]

OCR.

The top picture of your last post shows The Prince, saluting in a very un-British Army style(the second picture is classic British Army style) and from what I can see the uniforms behind him look a tad unusual for British uniforms. Might, I wonder, this picture have been taken in Canada whilst reviewing Canadian kilted Regiments? I am not sure how the Canadian Army salutes.

[Geoff Withnell]

As a student of military courtesy, and for general curiosity, is there a significance to the different salutes, closed and open palm, in these pictures?

Try these: