As per tradition, the monarch, as well as senior members of the British royal family, are associated or serve in the armed forces, and King Charles, of course, is not an exception. The head of the British monarchy has served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy and is the military’s Commander-in-Chief.

Just like his father, King Charles fell in love with flying and became a pilot after taking his first flying lessons while studying at Cambridge University. Reports are that years later, he flew the plane all by himself when he needed to be places as part of his royal duties.

It was a very relaxed relationship where he’d call up asking to be taken out in the aircraft on weekends, and when training was deployed to Aberystwyth one summer, he’d join us in the mess, fly as much as he could, and we even went hiking and fishing together in our down time. It was a wonderful experience,” then-squadron leader Philip Pinney who taught Charles how to fly a plane recalled.

When Charles enrolled RAF College at Cranwell, Squadron Leader, and later AIR Chief Marshal, Sir Richard Johns was the prince’s instructor.

“I had to put my complete faith in the pilots I was training. Prince Charles had a natural ability and picked things up very quickly. He was an easy student to teach, and I was very impressed by not just his focus and concentration but his impeccable determination to succeed. He was not going to fail, it was as simple as that,” Sir Johns said.