The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent most of the day in the Belizean forest on their final full day of engagements in the Central American country, joining British and Belizean soldiers for training.
William and Kate took part in the British Army Training Support Unit Belize’s jungle training and learned the five key elements for survival in the humid area: animal traps, shelters, water capture, fire and cooking.
Though soldiers regularly spend between six and eight weeks on the training session, William and Kate had a condensed version of the course over a period of 90 minutes. As William drank water from a vine, he told those gathered, “Eat your heart out, Ray Mears,” in reference to the famous British woodsman.
The royal couple also saw how bamboo could be used to create a pressure cooker to cook food; saw how spears could be fashioned to kill monkeys or birds for sustenance; and learned how to boil water in a plastic bottle over an open fire to make it safe to drink. As William sliced through a palm leaf, he told the soldiers, “It’s all coming back now.”
According to the British Army website, “Belize provides challenging terrain and an austere environment giving the British Army a world-class training environment. It is used to teach our soldiers how to survive, live and fight in the jungle environment.S oldiers learn skills in the jungle that are transferable to other environments and the training, though often gruelling, sets them up for success on future operations.”
Kensington Palace referred to the visit as a “trip down memory lane” for William, who spent part of his gap year in 2000 with the Welsh Guards in Belize learning military techniques and training.
William recalled how he’d received his A-level results while deep in the heart of the jungle, having just graduated from Eton College at the time. “It really was mortifying having my grades read out over a military radio with a whole bunch of soldiers listening in,” he said. “Thankfully the results weren’t too bad.”
William’s former sergeant major at Sandhurst, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Nichols, now runs the British Army Training Support Unit Belize and told reporters: “It was great to see Prince William again as it always is. I was lucky enough to work with William and Harry during their time at Sandhurst. William has aged gracefully and much the same man as I remember. I hope their time here was useful and they enjoyed themselves. Every time I am in the jungle you learn a lot, every day is a school day in this environment.”
The royal couple spent time at an ancient Mayan archeological site earlier in the day Monday and wrapped up the day at a reception hosted by the Governor General of Belize.
Their visit to Belize concludes on March 22nd and they will continue on to Jamaica and the Bahamas as their Caribbean royal visit continues through to March 26th 2022.
