Promoting the Prince of Wales

A friend alerted me to this news story about the promotion of the Prince of Wales to the ranks of Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force. 

Not only is it reassuring to see appointments being made to the most senior ranks in the armed services of the Crown - such rank is no longer granted automatically to serving chiefs of staff - but it is appropriate to the Prince's position. By such a set of appointments the Queen has quietly emphasised the Prince's position as her heir apparent.

I was interested to read recently that in 1910 Kaiser Wilhelm II, resplendent in uniform as a British Field Marshal, at the funeral of King Edward VII noted that his cousin King George V was only in the uniform of a Major General, that being the rank he had hitherto held.

Of related interest to the roles played by members of the Royal familythere was an interesting profile of the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their particular place within it in yesterday's Daily Telegraph and which can be read here.