The gift William’s new regiment gave to George, Charlotte and Louis to remind them of their father’s old job

The Princess of Wales was given a touching present from Army Air Corp soldiers as Prince William was made colonel-in-chief of their regiment on Monday.

William, 41, was given the honour yesterday (13 May) by King Charles, who took the opportunity to praise his skills as a pilot as he made him head of Prince Harry’s old regiment.

It is an honour that would have reportedly been given to the Duke of Sussex, 39, had he not stepped down as a working royal in 2020 because Harry actually flew with the regiment in Afghanistan until 2014.

William was given the honour at the Army Aviation Centre (AAC) Middle Wallop in Hampshire and he received it without his wife by his side as she continues her cancer treatment.

But the Princess of Wales and their children were still in the thoughts of the regiment, who decided to give every member of the family a small gift to mark the occasion.

William was given an AAC tartan wrap for the Princess of Wales, a scarf for himself and three wooden helicopters for their children.

The gift was a particularly thoughtful one as Kate Middleton is famed for her love of tartan, which is one of her wardrobe staples.

The King said it was a “great joy” to be at the event “even briefly” when giving William the new honour.

“I do hope you’ll go from strength to strength in the future with the Prince of Wales as your new Colonel-in-Chief,” he said.

“The great thing is he’s a very good pilot indeed so that’s encouraging.”

After the King left, William undertook his first engagement as the Army Air Corp’s colonel-in-chief and was briefed on the regiment’s work.

He was then given the opportunity to inspect training and operational aircraft.

William celebrated the event by posting pictures of himself on previous visits to the Army Air Corps on Twitter.

The event was the first joint engagement undertaken by Prince William and King Charles since 2022.