Chika

Ah such a great timeline filled with the Future King😍 For the past 6 months, The Prince of Wales has been working behind the scene with Country life magazine to guest edit a special issue of almost 300 pages, the largest royal issue to date, which will come out tomorrow on November 11 and be available for only One week👌🏽 Interestingly, on the front cover, HRH The Princess of Wales is introduced as speaking with Robert Macfarlan who is a British writer, and patron of the Gateway To Nature, a mental health initiative designed to improve access to nature for vulnerable groups and individuals. An initiative that is also dear to Catherine. I love that this is William's time to shine as a guest editor and he is sharing that issue with his wife and giving her a voice in it as well. SUCH a husband thing to do❤️ In the Issue, Prince William offers an insight into his life in the country side with his family as well as his love of wild swimming but most importantly, he personally commissioned an article in this special edition of Country Life magazine, to discuss a cause he has been working on behind the scene: The challenges of Servicewomen in the Armed forces🔥 A fitting subject as the Heir to the throne is the future Commander in Chief of the Armed forces. He is currently the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps and the Mercian Regiment as well as Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Navy Submarine Service and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Valley. Thus, Prince William writes about his commitment to improving the experiences of women serving across the Armed Forces saying: “We need to ensure our military culture is more inclusive of women and has said that he is committed to ensuring women in the military feel safe, respected and valued - as he warns that standards are not yet being met."🔥 And these words are not empty words. Over the past year, the Prince of Wales has held public and private meetings with servicewomen of all ranks from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force to learn first hand about their experiences. He heard how they faced inappropriate comments, rumours being spread if they turned down advances and intoxicated harassment in barracks, and he was told by one junior female about “women being used as commodities”. Therefore, the Prince of Wales has held a series of meetings with senior leaders across to the defence sector and used them as fact-finding sessions to discuss what is being done to address the concerns, and he is now exploring a longer-term initiative on the issue🔥 The Daily Mail reveals that "A report last year found that 67 per cent of servicewomen experienced at least one form of sexualised behaviour in the past year, compared with 34 per cent of men. This is an absolutely brilliant use of his platform to once again challenge a difficult topic but a necessary one. Servicewomen in every country in the world can identify with this topic, but as I discussed with some mates last week, unfortunately it is a reality that goes with the territory👌🏽 The Armed forces is primarily a world for Men. Historically, it is a brotherhood that slowly, over the decades, has started to include women in their rank; but it remains, around the world, primarily a Male-oriented space. Therefore, when women choose to become servicewomen, they need to understand the landscape they are going into, and mentally and physically toughen up to the reality ahead🔥 The Armed forces remains at large, a brotherhood. That is the cold reality. So yes, there will be silly jokes that makes you roll your eyes, there will be rough language, there will be the bantering with sexual innuendos, AND there will be the unwanted sexual attention and advances from men. That is the crude reality of the military landscape and anyone telling you that this will be erased completely is lying to you🤷🏽‍♀️ However, the good news is that most times, those interactions do not always lead to sexual assaults nor sexual harrassment, nor anything sinister. Plenty of servicewomen enjoy their time of service. However, there is also a rise in cases of sexual harrassment, not well handled by the leadership and it can lead to suicide and that really needs to be addressed🔥 Women contribute A LOT of expertise in the Military and that benefits the Armed forces at large. Therefore yes, Servicewomen have to toughen up to adapt to the Military world they chose to live into, BUT at the same time, the Leadership HAS to recognise the vulnerabilities of their unique position and do more to create a healthy environment where they can also serve safely❤️ That is why it is important for the Future King to use his platform to recognise that reality for servicewomen as a former service member himself and the future Commander in chief👏🏽🔥 I cannot wait to read this issue tomorrow☺️ #PrincessofWales