Cadet Caitlyn Keddy may have only joined the cadets a few months ago, but she’s already had her first introduction to royalty.
The 13-year-old from Astrea Academy Dearne in Barnsley, was chosen to take part in the line-up to welcome HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, to the military village at the Great Yorkshire Show. She is pictured being introduced to the Prince by Captain Mark Murray of 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.
Royal interest
“He was very nice and wanted to know all about what I’d been up to with my cadet unit,” said Caitlyn.
“He asked me if I’d done shooting and told me that girls were generally a really good shot.
“I didn’t expect to meet him when I set off from home to come to the Show. My mum’s going to be totally shocked”
The Prince also chatted to Second Lieutenant Sean Guy, a cadet force adult volunteer at Caitlyn’s unit.
“He asked me how long I had been involved in the cadets and thanked me for my work,” said Sean.
“He said how important the role of cadet force adult volunteers was to the development of young people and that he hoped I wouldn’t be retiring any time soon!”
Each year, cadet from the Combined Cadet Force attend the Great Yorkshire Show to support the RFCA in promoting the role of cadets and reserves to visitors.
This year it was the role of Astrea Academy Dearne who sent four cadets each day, accompanied by adult instructors Sean and Sam Robinson.