King's 'subtle' speech and clever gift sparks Royal Navy pride, former commodore says
Those in the Senior Service can take pride in serving alongside the monarchy, a former Royal Navy commodore has said, after King Charles reflected on his own military career at a speech in Washington.
Commodore (Ret'd) Steve Prest said that the King's address highlighted that many past monarchs have served in the Royal Navy.
The King stressed the importance of Nato and Aukus alliances, the trilateral defence partnership involving the USA, UK, and Australia, and praised the collaboration of UK and US forces in his speech.
Speaking to BFBS Forces News' Sofie Cacoyannis, Cdre (Ret'd) Prest, said: "I think what will have mattered to the men and women of the Royal Navy is his callout to his pride in his own service and making the point that the Royal Navy as a Royal Navy is something that generations of monarchs have served in with enormous pride."
The former Weapon Engineer Officer on HMS Westminster said that the themes of the speech, which included the defence partnership between London and Washington, were "very subtly and very clearly delivered".
He also said that the speech underlined the strength and power of the monarchy, as the monarch can deliver messages that a politician cannot.
King Charles' service
The head of state spoke about his service in the Royal Navy, saying: "I served with immense pride in the Royal Navy, following in the naval footsteps of my father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; my grandfather, King George VI; my great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten; and my great-grandfather, King George V."
King Charles' service in the Royal Navy started as a 22-year-old when he joined an 'accelerated graduates' course at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 1971.
During his service with the Royal Navy, he learnt a submarine emergency drill on HMS Dolphin, sailed with hunter-killer HMS Churchill, studied navigation on HMS Mercury and put his knowledge to the test aboard minehunter HMS Glasserton.
The then-Prince of Wales's final post was as the Commanding Officer of Ton-class minesweeper HMS Bronington.
Submarine bell gifted to President Trump
Later on, at a White House state dinner, the King presented US president Donald Trump with the original bell from the Royal Navy Second World War submarine HMS Trump.
"I am delighted to present to you, as a personal gift, the original bell which hung on the conning tower of your valiant namesake," the King said.
"And should you ever need to get hold of us, well, just give us a ring."
Renewal through security
Meanwhile, King Charles stated in his speech on Capitol Hill that the UK needs to transform its defences to deal with potential threats in a "volatile" world.
"That is why our country, in order to be fit for the future, has committed to the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War," he added.
The government has committed to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2027, increasing to 3% in the next parliament and a Nato-agreed target of 3.5% by 2035.
Ukraine and the US-UK defence partnership
After the King met Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky last month in London, the monarch said that the UK and US must continue to work together in the defence of Kyiv and its courageous people.
The King, who is currently on a four-day state visit to the USA to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, also praised the service personnel of both the UK and the USA and the US-UK defence partnership, illustrated by the Aukus alliance.
"We are building F-35s together. And we have agreed the most ambitious submarine programme in history – Aukus – in partnership with Australia, a country of which I am also immensely proud to serve as sovereign," he explained.
"We do not embark on these remarkable endeavours together out of sentiment. We do so because they build greater resilience for the future, so making our citizens safer for generations to come."
Additional reporting by Sofie Cacoyannis.
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