Prince William admits he misses search and rescue work as huge crowds gather to meet royal in South Africa

7 November 2024, 15:19

Prince William confessed he missed his time in search and rescue as he met with a lifeboat crew in Cape Town.

The Prince of Wales took to the seas on the final day of his tour of South Africa, visiting volunteers at Simon’s Town Harbour.

During the visit, workers with the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) asked him if he had ever worked in search and rescue.

He replied: “I miss this life. Any chance to get back, I’ll take.”

Read more: Prince William praises 'amazing' Kate as he gives health update following her cancer treatment

As the future king clambered onto the vessel, he joked if a life jacket would be enough to protect him from the harbour’s choppy seas.

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

He also told volunteers he is trying to teach his three children about the risks of rip tides when taking to the seas.

“We are trying to teach the children to understand currents,” he said.

“The problem with rips is that you don’t know where they are going to appear.”

Prince William trained as a search and rescue helicopter pilot during his stay at RAF Valley in Anglesey before joining the East Anglian Air Ambulance in March 2015.

Huge crowds gathered during Williams' visit, including two protestors who shouted "go home!" at the royal.

William’s boat trip comes after he praised Princess Kate and gave a health update following her cancer treatment.

William said Kate was doing "really well" and praised her for being "amazing" as she went through cancer treatment throughout the year.

Speaking in South Africa ahead of Wednesday’s Earthshot Prize ceremony, Wills said: "[Kate]'s doing really well thanks. Hopefully she's watching tonight and cheering me on.

"She's been amazing this whole year and I know she'll be really keen to see tonight be a success."

Kate announced in September that she had completed her treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, saying her main focus was now on "staying cancer free".

Sharing a video with the family at the time, she said she was taking every day as it comes and was "looking forward" to returning to public engagements.

Kate has since made several public appearances, including meeting with the families of Southport stabbing victims.

She did not travel to South Africa for the Earthshot ceremony, however.During his visit to Cape Town, he has been seen wearing a bracelet with the word 'papa' on it, which was given to him by Princess Charlotte.

"This is a relic from a Taylor Swift concert that my daughter decided that she wanted to create a bracelet for," he said.

"She gave it to me when I came away so I've promised her that I'd wear it and try not to lose it while I was out here."

He said he and the three children had regular conversations about doing "what they can" to help with the environment.

"I think every family has these conversations," William said. "You just try to do what you can.

"The Earthshot Prize has got to be a bit more global than that. We are trying to do big scale ambition and big scale business to tackle some of the solutions.

"But I brought the children along that journey and tonight I hope they are watching and they are proud of kind of what we are try to do here, which is to really galvanise that energy that enthusiasm to make real impact."