A Sultan in Cyprus: Malaysian royal who trained at Sandhurst makes nostalgic trip
A royal visitor has returned to British Forces Cyprus more than 40 years after finishing his officer training on the island.
The Sultan of Pahang, King Abdullah, reunited with old friends from his platoon for the nostalgic visit.
The trip covered sites in the Western Sovereign Base Area which were used for a 10-day beach landing exercise four decades ago.
He said: "Cyprus has always been on my mind. This is my first visit for 46 years. It'ss brought me a lot of good memories."
King Abdullah trained as an officer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst between 1978-1980.
"I'm the kind of person who likes outdoor, adventurous activities and Sandhurst fits me in," he explained.
King Abdullah went on to serve as King of Malaysia between 2019 and 2024.
In Malaysia's constitutional monarchy, modelled on Westminster, royals ascend to the throne for a five-year term.
It's common for royal families to send princes to the United Kingdom for military training, with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the same class at Sandhurst.
King Abdullah went on to serve in the Malaysian Royal Armoured Corps.
In Cyprus, he was shown the runway and terminal at RAF Akrotiri before being taken to the Akrotiri Mole where his final exercise began all those years ago.
The King was accompanied by Queen Azizah and Princess Jihan, who were shown a CH-47 Chinook by a crew from 1310 Flight, BFC's aerial firefighting unit attached to 84 Squadron.
He was also taken to Bloodhound Camp where he once stayed and Malander beach were the exercise peaked.
Retired Colonel Mark Underhill and three other friends from the Sultan’s platoon joined the trip, helping to arrange the details of the visit.
"The ramp couldn't get right up to the water's edge so as it went down, we had to jump off," he said. "We started our exercise wet having only been on the island for an hour."
The retired Colonel remembers landing at RAF Akrotiri on an RAF VC10 and using a Ramp Craft Lighter (RCL) landing craft.
He added: "I think we’re all very privileged to be able to accompany the King and talk through the locations, sparking a memory for him."
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