Sun Royal Photographer Arthur Edwards hails Prince William following speech with Tom Cruise in audience
PRINCE William was joined by Top Gun actor Tom Cruise at a fundraiser tonight and told of his gratitude at public support for his dad and wife.He joked of Cruise, 61 and a pilot for 30 years: “Tom, huge thanks for supporting us tonight. And if you wouldn’t mind not borrowing either of the new helicopters for the next Mission Impossible, it would be appreciated.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you, also, for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days.Wills went on to joke: “It’s fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather ‘medical’ focus. So I thought I’d come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all.
“The clue really is in the appeal’s name. By September, we need the two new red birds - decked with the latest kit such as night vision - in our skies.” He begged his famous pal not to borrow the new choppers for his next film as the risk of getting them damaged was too great.The Prince said: “We have all seen on our screens that - how can I put it - you seem to have a different take on ‘normal wear and tear’ to the rest of us.
He has close links with the royals, and attended the funeral of William’s mother Diana in 1997 with then-wifeHe was an RAF search and rescue pilot for three years based in Anglesey, before flying for East Anglian Air Ambulance. He has regularly spoken about the “traumatic” moments in the job, and in 2020 became patron of London’s Air Ambulance Charity.