Get in the chopper!
Prince William was joined by longtime pal David Beckham Tuesday, October 1, during a royal visit to RAF Northolt in Ruislip, Greater London, where they viewed two new medical helicopters expected to provide life-saving care to patients across London.
William, 42, and Beckham, 49, posed in front of, and inside, the two new H135 helicopters with medical and pilot crews from London’s Air Charity Ambulance. William is a patron of the charity.
The royal visit celebrates the end of a three-year fundraising appeal to purchase new aircraft as it became clear that the charity’s older model aircraft would be out of service within the next few years.
The “Up Against Time” campaign raised £16 million for the new aircraft, which will allow the charity to continue its vital work of responding to medical emergencies as quickly as possible.
William and Beckham looked dapper in black suits as they inspected the new aircraft and shared some banter. At one point, they appeared to be in on a joke together as William pointed at Beckham, and the pair were seen laughing.
The twosome have been friends for many years and Beckham and his wife, Victoria, attended William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011. The former soccer star and his wife also attended Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018.
“Yeah, I think I would. It’s a very normal relationship. With Harry as well,” Beckham said in 2012 of his friendships with the princes. “They’re very easy to get along with. They love their sport. William loves Aston Villa, unfortunately, which obviously I give him a bit of stick about.”
Last week, William addressed the United Nations leaders hours after his brother, Harry, spoke at the organization’s Clinton Global Initiative.
“We are living at odds with the natural world — and it is buckling under the pressure of our actions,” the Prince of Wales, 42, said in a video message played at a Campaign for Nature event at the General Assembly of the United Nations, in New York on Tuesday, September 24, according to BBC.
In his speech, William urged world leaders to “make peace with nature” as climate change has become an “existential threat.”
“If we are to keep this planet liveable for our children and grandchildren, we must act urgently,” he said. “We can and must change our relationship with the natural world.”
Hours before William’s virtual speech, Harry, 40, visited the UN on behalf of his and wife Meghan’s The Archewell Foundation. The nonprofit debuted its new Parents Network at the Clinton Global Initiative. During the event, Harry spoke about the dangers of social media for children.
“If we allow the status quo to remain in an age where our lives are intertwined with technology, we cannot afford to only see the online world as a space for profitability, competition and rapid growth instead,” he said. “I never grew up with a phone, but children today are natives to technology, technology that we might not always be able to understand. Young people are kept there by mindless, endless, numbing, scrolling, force-fed content that no child should ever be exposed to. We and shareholders need to hold CEOs accountable.”
