Prince William joined forces with David Beckham this morning to view new London Air Ambulance Charity helicopters at RAF Northolt in Ruislip, West London. The duo celebrated surpassing a £15 million fundraising goal to replace the aging fleet.
The former England captain, 49, and the future King, 42, greeted each other warmly, sharing laughs in the cockpit, where William even took a turn in the pilot’s seat. Beckham shared that William had reached out personally to arrange the visit, expressing he had to “hide his excitement” at the invitation. “It was just an honour to be invited by Prince William to be involved with this,” Beckham noted.
When asked about the personal invitation from Prince William, David Beckham shared, “I know what this means to Prince William. The moment he called and asked me, I had to hide my excitement a little bit because I’ve been a fan of the London Air Ambulance for a long time, being an East End boy.”
He emphasized the importance of public funding and donations for the service, saying, “It’s nice to help in a small way.” Beckham expressed pride in contributing to the fundraising efforts that resulted in purchasing one of the new helicopters.
Prince William, who served as an air ambulance pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance from 2015 to 2017, sported his signature designer stubble during the visit. The new H135 helicopters were acquired through the “Up Against Time” fundraising appeal, launched in 2021 to address the impending retirement of the old MD902 helicopters. The appeal successfully raised £16 million, ensuring the medical team can continue their essential services across London.
During their visit, it was revealed that £4 million of the fundraising appeal was raised through the Omaze campaign, backed by David Beckham. The two men shared smiles and laughter as they entered the helicopter cockpit together, even appearing to exchange jokes.
Both Beckham and Prince William signed the aircraft, with William writing “back in the middle!” and Beckham leaving a heartfelt note: “Thank you! Fly safe, love David Beckham,” complete with a kiss and the number 7, his former shirt number.
They were also shown the charity’s medical equipment and technology, taking selfies with the crew. Dressed similarly in black suits and white shirts, Beckham expressed his honor in celebrating the work of the air ambulance team: “As an East End boy, I’ve seen these in the air for many years and know the incredible work they do.”
While speaking to the pilots, William pointed at a decommissioned helicopter, remarking, “I can’t believe they’re 20 years old.” Pilot Pete Driver shared his emotional connection to the aircraft, stating he didn’t expect to feel so sentimental during its last flight.
Engaging with Airbus engineers involved in the new helicopters’ development, William exclaimed, “I can’t believe it’s materialized, this is it!” The two new helicopters are set to be operational starting today.
Before attending a private reception with charity executives and donors, Prince William met with two patients who benefited from the London Air Ambulance Charity.
One of them, Matt Smith, 60, shared his harrowing story, explaining that he wouldn’t be alive today without the rapid response of the air ambulance. In May 2003, while waiting to cross the road, he was struck by a car, suffering severe injuries, including broken eye sockets, cheekbones, nose, left arm, and ribs. “I would have been dead if it wasn’t for the London Air Ambulance,” he recounted.
William had initially planned to join the delivery flight of one of the new helicopters from the military airfield to the Royal London Hospital. However, heavy rain and low cloud cover forced the cancellation of the flight due to poor visibility.
Prince William, who is president of the Football Association, has a friendly
zrelationship with the Beckham family, with David and Victoria attending his wedding to Kate in 2012, as well as Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.
The former England captain has remained close to both the battling brothers – as well as their father, King Charles.
In 2020, David appeared in a video for William’s charity Heads Up, while the pair have attended various football games together, including with his son Romeo in the Royal Box at Wembley.
David also queued for 13 hours to see the late Queen lying in state at Westminster Hall – refusing to skip the line.
After paying his respects to Her Late Majesty, he said: ‘Anytime throughout my career I’ve been asked to do anything regarding the royal family, Her Majesty, the princes, our King now, I have always been very willing to do that.
The Prince was all smiles as he and David Beckham made a visit to RAF Northolt to view the two new London Air Ambulance Charity helicopters
‘I grew up in a family that were royalists. Today I think back to my grandparents because if my grandparents were alive they would have been here, so it’s nice to be here to celebrate with everybody the life of Her Majesty and her legacy that she leaves.’
David also joined the Prince and Princess of Wales at Earthshot Awards in Boston last year.
He also invited them to his son Brooklyn’s wedding, which they sadly couldn’t attend but did wish the family a ‘great deal of joy’.
Speaking about William and Harry in 2012, William said: ‘They’re two people who have grown up in the spotlight and the respect that I have for them, and that people in our country and all over the world have for them, is amazing,’
‘I have a huge amount of respect for William and Harry because of what they’ve been through from a very young age. They’re a credit obviously to their mum and everyone in the Royal Family.’
Later on today, William visited the 2023 Earthshot Prize Finalist, ENSO, in Brentford, west London.
The visit comes as they announce a pioneering new strategic partnership with Uber across the UK and USA.
The London-based start-up, which was a Finalist in the 2023 ‘Clean Our Air’ category, creates tyres specifically designed for electric vehicles that are more sustainable and reduce harmful tyre pollution, leading to cleaner air for everyone.
While there, William showed himself to be the Prince of Wheels as he changed one of ENSO’s environmentally tyres after the major Uber deal was signed.
At a Kia garage in west London, the future king was offered the chance by ENSO’s senior tyre technician Andrew Bernard, 28, to change the first tyre on its inaugural Uber vehicle, a Kia e-Niro.
Andrew admired his suit saying: ‘You’re looking very dapper!’ Asked whether he had changed a tyre before before, the prince said: ‘Oh loads of times!’
‘This should be a walk in the park then,’ joked Andrew.
The laughing royal added: ‘Not necessarily with quite so much pressure at this.’
But William handled the tool knowledgeably, with Andrew even saying: ‘You did that better than me. You can replace me.’ William later managed to put two nuts back on.
He was then asked to help put it back on and peppered Andrew with questions about how the technology worked.
‘Dreamwork makes the team work,’ the fitter said. He told William he had been working for ENSO for a year and had ‘loved every minute of it.
‘The company’s going from strength to strength at the moment,’ William said.
‘Fantastic, ‘ said Andrew, ‘if you’ve got some spare time you should come and work with us.’
‘I wouldn’t drive it quite yet,’ quipped the prince.
‘You’ve done this before,’ interjected the company’s founder, Gunnlaugur Erlendsson known as ‘G’. ‘I’ll give you a job.’
Andrew said afterwards with a reference to Queen Elizabeth who famously learned to change her own tyres when she worked in the ATS during the Second World War: ‘He was very attentive with everything I threw at him and clearly knew what he was doing. If his grandmother could do it, then so could he. He was great, easy going and down to earth.’
During the visit, The Prince talked to the founder and CEO of ENSO, Mr Erlendsson, to hear how the business has developed and scaled since.
William, 42, admitted he hadn’t been aware of the scale of global tyre pollution until he met the ENSO team.
‘I don’t think many members of the public understand,’ he said.
Uber Global CMO Jill Hazelbaker, whose firm is meeting up to 50 per cent of the costs involved in changing to ENSO tyres, told him: ‘We love the impact you are all having.
‘You are finding these amazing entrepreneurs and innovators and helping them to scale up. Our customers want us to invest in products that are more sustainable and our drivers want options that are low cost. So it’s a win for us all. ‘
William said he hoped Earthshot’s rigorous process of selection was giving business the confidence to seize the opportunity.
Hannah Jones, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, told the prince they were continuing to work with Uber on other environmental solutions provided by other Earthshot finalists.
‘It really exciting. Meeting the best and brightest. What you are doing is incredible,’ Ms Hazelbaker told the prince. ‘It’s a match made in heaven.’
‘We want to scale that momentum faster and bigger,’ enthused William. It’s really exciting. We are so pleased.’
‘We couldn’t be prouder or happier and we are going to do this at pace,’ agreed the ENSO founder.
William’s visit to the charity comes after he revealed just a few weeks ago he would ‘love’ to fly helicopters again during a visit to the Wales Air Ambulance headquarters in Llanelli, South Wales.
During the visit, William revealed there are plans in the pipeline to fly with the Wales Air Ambulance from its base in Cardiff Bay.
He talked shop with the pilots and crew of the £8.5m Airbus H145S chopper, which he is still qualified to fly.
The Prince of Wales also revealed he would love to make a ‘comeback’ and get behind the controls of a helicopter again.
He said during the visit: ‘I’d love to fly again, I could volunteer for a weekend to make a come back.’
Prince William is a patron of the Wales Air Ambulance charity that saves hundreds of lives each year by getting medical teams to accident scenes in their 138mph helicopters.
He was told about developments at the charity since his last visit in 2023 and chatted to flight crews about the latest medical technology on board the fleet of air ambulances.
His visit marked the annual National Air Ambulance Week which raises funds to keep flying doctors in the air.
Prince William completed his training as a helicopter pilot in the RAF Search and Rescue Force in 2010, flying an air ambulance for two years before transitioning to more royal duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. Known as Flight Lieutenant Wales during his service in Anglesey, North Wales, he participated in 156 search and rescue operations, successfully rescuing 149 individuals.
Over the years, William has flown his family to various events, including the Commonwealth Games in 2022. However, his flying habits reportedly concerned the late Queen. According to Our King by Robert Jobson, Queen Elizabeth warned William against flying with his eldest son, Prince George, due to fears of a tragic accident that could jeopardize the monarchy’s future. A source previously shared with The Sun that the Queen expressed a desire for William to stop flying himself, especially in poor weather, as it made her “nervous” and kept her awake at night.
In May of this year, William piloted an Apache helicopter after being appointed the leader of his brother’s former Army regiment by King Charles. Prince Harry qualified as an Apache helicopter commander in 2013, and if he and Meghan had not stepped down as working royals in 2020, he would likely have held the Colonel-in-Chief position. Despite family concerns, William has consistently expressed his passion for piloting helicopters.
