Prince William announces major trip to NATO front line with Russia to visit troops

Prince William is set to head to Estonia next week in his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Merican Regiment and will meet British troops stationed ready to defend NATO’s eastern flank

Prince William is set to head on his first overseas trip of the year to meet British troops on NATO’s front line with Russia.

The Prince of Wales will be in Estonia next week in his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Mercian Regiment and will head to Tapa Army Base where forces are stationed to provide a deterrent to Russian aggression in the region.

The British forces at Tapa, who are ready to defend NATO’s eastern flank, are the UK’s largest permanent overseas deployment and there are around 900 UK service personnel in total in Estonia. William’s visit, his first-ever trip to Estonia, comes as major nations including the UK prepare to step up spending on their armed forces in response to the changing world order ushered in by US President Donald Trump.

Russia is seen as a growing threat in the region following its three-year-long invasion of Ukraine, and the Baltic states – Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia – which border Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nation appear increasingly concerned.

UK troops lead a battlegroup in Estonia and William will travel to Tapa camp to meet the military personnel from his Mercian Regiment undergoing training. British forces are deployed to Estonia and Poland under Operation Cabrit, the UK’s contribution to NATO’s Forward Land Forces in the two countries.

William will begin the first day of his visit by meeting Alar Karis, President of Estonia. The country has been prominent among those giving military equipment and political support to Ukraine.

He will also visit a school founded by the Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia in May 2022 to respond to the war in Ukraine, and the prince will meet teachers from Ukraine to hear about their experiences at the school, and how they have helped students settle in Tallinn and looked after their mental wellbeing.

The prince founded his Earthshot Prize to help recognise and scale up solutions to repair the planet, and he will also attend an event to learn about renewable energy start-ups. The following day will be spent at Tapa Army Base where William, a former Army officer, will meet Estonian soldiers and attend a handover ceremony as the Mercian Regiment take over from the Royal Dragoon Guards.

The trip will be a solo one for William, who will be travelling to Estonia without wife the Princess of Wales, who is continuing her gradual return to duties following her cancer treatment. Earlier this week she joined William as well as the King and Queen at the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey – an event she was forced to miss last year due to her cancer diagnois.

The Commonwealth Day service is an important date in the royal calendar and a rare occasion when senior royals are seen together – and William and Kate were photographed exchanging kisses with the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester as they waited for the King to arrive.