Prince William has demonstrated the British royal family’s support for the troops guarding NATO’s border with Russia on a two-day visit to Estonia.

The Prince of Wales met with soldiers of the Mercian Regiment, of which he is colonel-in-chief, as they undertook exercises as part of a multinational force under Operation Cabrit, intended to deter Russian aggression on the eastern flank around the Baltic states.

Royal visits like these take place at the request of the UK government and represent another moment of what is increasingly being referred to as royal soft power, sending a message about the UK’s commitment to defending their allies on Russia’s doorstep.

William first of all met with Estonia’s President, Alar Karis in the capital Tallinn, followed by a visit to a school teaching refugees from the war in Ukraine.

On his second day he donned camouflage uniform and climbed aboard a Challenger 2 tank on a tour of the military training grounds at Tapa Camp.

As a former army officer who trained at Sandhurst military academy and joined the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals before training as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot, the Prince’s trip holds a great deal of significance.

Colonel-in-chief

The Royal Family has certainly been stepping up in terms of diplomatic issues of late. King Charles III has invited President Donald Trump to Buckingham Palace when he makes his unprecedented second state visit and he also spoke at length to Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Sandringham, just days after the Ukrainian president’s much publicised clash with Mr Trump.

Now the Prince of Wales has delighted the Estonians with this high-profile trip, which has been six months in the making and there is no doubt that the UK Government is using the Prince as a “global statesman” to strengthen relations with European nations.

For his part, William would have had no qualms about heading over to see his Mercian Regiment who he was made Colonel-in-Chief in August 2023, taking over from his father, the King.

Happy to chat

Estonians had turned out in their hundreds having waited for hours in freezing temperatures for the chance to wave and even shake hands with the Prince.

He happily chatted to a group of flag-waving young children from the local Kindergarten as they presented him with a cuddly dog called Lotte for his children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. William even stopped to fuss over a Welsh Corgi – the breed of dog his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II famously adored.

Praising the resilience

He visited the Freedom School in Tallinn, which was founded by the Ministry of Education and Research in May 2022 for Ukrainian child refugees.

The Prince praised Ukraine’s strength whilst sitting down with teenagers for a Ukrainian language class and offered words of encouragement: “Looking forward to the future in a positive way is very important. It’s been a very difficult few years for you guys, everyone sees that, but what I love is the Ukrainian resilience is everywhere.”

Friendship offered

The Royal was approached by 18-year-old student counsellor Yelyzaveta Lukiianchuk, who offered him a friendship bracelet in the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine.

William willingly allowed her to put it on his wrist, before remarking: “That’s brilliant, my daughter will try and probably poach it off me later, because she loves these friendship bracelets. Thank you, that’s very kind – I like the Ukrainian colours.”

Witnessing “trench warfare”

The second day of his visit saw the Prince venture out in freezing conditions to a mud-churned military training area, where he witnessed his troops less than 100 miles from the Russian border.

Dressed in camouflages, he took to a Challenger 2 tank to observe a trench warfare exercise. His Mercian Regiment carried out a practice assault, skilfully detecting and breaching an enemy trench system and apprehending “high-value target” opponents.

Meeting the troops

He was given a full tour of the military training grounds at Tapa Camp and also met with both Estonian and French troops and asked questions regarding the  new “drone threat” facing modern armies and “the change of tactics” it requires. He had been introduced to a hydrogen-powered drone the previous day.

Chatting with soldiers from the 1st Estonian brigade, he inquired about their experiences during the initial six months of their training. The Prince remarked: “It’s great to meet you guys and great to be here; how’s it working with the Brits? You don’t have to say nice things just because I’m here!” They politely responded that it had been “good” and “very successful”.

Anxious over Putin

Estonia have long been a key supporter of Ukraine and all around the capital there are Ukrainian flags flying alongside the Estonian blue, black and white tricolour.

With a population of only 1.3 million, it shares a 183-mile border with Russia and Prince William’s visit comes amid uncertainty over the Ukrainian war and worries about where President Vladimir Putin’s next move could be.

Comforted by militarily presence

They remain fearful that the Russians could re-arm rapidly, even after a peace-deal and not only threaten Ukraine again, but decide to attack Estonia and other Northern European NATO allies as well.

Their anxiety is understandable, after all they did spend half a century under Soviet rule and although Estonia continue to operate a mandatory conscription for all male teenagers and also has a growing home guard, called the Estonian Defence League (EDL), it is easy to understand why they value the 900-strong UK military presence on the border.