He also had his own connection to the royal family; he flew from South America to London Heathrow with Prince Philip on board in October 1966. He acted as co-pilot on a number of flights for the late Duke of Edinburgh during his two-month tour of South America, where he visited British factories, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca.
Queen Camilla
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He met Prince William for the first time on his 90th birthday in 2010, dying later that year just days before the Prince and Princess announced their engagement.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla wore the 12th Royal Lancers Brooch, the regiment of her late father Major Bruce Shand, pinned to the lapel of her royal blue coat. Major Shand graduated from Sandhurst, joining the 12th Royal Lancers in 1937. He would later win the Military Cross for valour, with the citation detailing his ‘skill and great daring’ and how, by ‘the fearless manoeuvring of his troop, he covered the withdrawal of a column in the face of fire from four enemy tanks’.