Prince William’s former RAF colleague dies aged 47

One of the Prince of Wales’s former colleagues has sadly passed away at the age of 47.

Flight Sergeant Zach Stubbings, who served in the RAF, died in January after battling multiple myeloma, a cancer that affects the bone marrow and plasma cells, for years.

Mr Stubbings served in the RAF at the same time as the Prince when he was based as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot at RAF Valley, Anglesey between 2010 to 2013.

In an interview with The Times in May 2024, he described the future King as “amazing and brilliant”.

The RAF flight sergeant was told he had ten years to live when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 after serving 15 years with the RAF, nine of which he spent inhaling toxic exhaust fumes from Sea King Helicopters.

Mr Stubbings was one of five people who received pay-outs from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after his diagnosis. 

The MoD launched an investigation last year to determine the number of armed forces personnel who have served as aircrew and been diagnosed with cancer.

Pilots and crew members who served on board helicopters such as Sea King, Wessex Puma and Chinook are among those who are taking legal action.

HELLO! has reached out to the MoD for comment.

The Prince of Wales’s flying career

The Prince and Princess of Wales lived in Anglesey when William was based at RAF Valley, including up to the birth of their first child, Prince George, in 2013.

The couple rented a four-bedroom farmhouse on the Bodorgan Estate from Lord and Lady Meyrick, which boasted private beach access and views of Newborough Forest.

The heir to the throne later joined the East Anglian Air Ambulance, responding to call-outs for two years before stepping down in July 2017 to focus on his royal duties.

In January, William became patron of the College of Paramedics and attended its inaugural emergency and critical care conference in Birmingham.

The College of Paramedics was established in 2001 and is involved in developing the paramedic profession through advocating for professional standards, learning and development, and taking care of the mental health and well-being of its members.

He told the paramedics from across the country: “Saving lives is not the only challenge you face. In your role, you are there for people in the most critical and emotional moments, having to display care and skill in highly stressful and often distressing circumstances.

“Working alongside you in Wales and East Anglia, I know the team effort that is required to provide emergency health care, but I also know that at the beginning it is sometimes a lone paramedic – in a car, on a bike, in a helicopter, in an ambulance, on foot.

“Your ability to calm the patient, to listen to their fears, to reassure them that help has arrived, is as important as the subsequent medical intervention.”