William to fly in Sea King as royal couple tour P.E.I.
Monday, July 4th, 2011The National Post
CHARLOTTETOWN — Prince William will be in the cockpit of a Sea King helicopter Monday as he takes part in a training session and makes an “emergency landing” in the waters of Prince Edward Island.
William, who serves in the Royal Air Force, and his wife, Kate, are in Prince Edward Island — home of Anne of Green Gables — as their criss-cross Canadian tour continues.
After a morning welcome at the provincial legislature in Charlottetown, the royals will head to Dalvay By-The-Sea, where William is to take part in a Sea King drill that’s meant to “highlight the innovative contributions made by Canada’s miliary to the training of search-and-rescue pilots,” according to the tour’s media guide.
The aircraft will simulate an emergency situation that requires it to set down on the water.
After the high-profile training session, the royal couple is scheduled to head to a dragonboat race before making their way to Summerside for further festivities.
Kate has apparently been looking forward to their visit to Canada’s smallest province because of what media reports say is her childhood love of the books of the red-headed orphan Anne of Green Gables.
After leaving Quebec, where a smattering of anti-monarchy protesters did their best to disrupt the royal tour, Prince Edward Island is expected to be a much less controversial leg of the royals’ nine-dayCanadian adventure.
At the Charlottetown airport on Sunday, there was a crowd of nearly 1,000 admirers waiting to greet Will and Kate when their jet landed, the prince’s newly created flag flying in the cockpit.
Sophia Best and Bridget Keedwell, both 10 years old, had been waiting to give their flowers to Kate.
“So excited. And so nervous! I can’t wait to see what she’s going to be wearing,” said Best.
There was a roar as Will and Kate, now wearing a jacket over her dress, appeared and descended the stairs.
Sophia then got a bit over-excited and tried to give her flowers to Will, who reached her first.
But the prince, now an expert at handling such matters with grace, gently shook her hand and redirected her to his wife.
After spending most of Monday in Prince Edward Island, the royals will take off in the evening for a long flight back across the country to Yellowknife.