A SOLIHULL student was rubbing shoulders with royalty when he was invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace.
Connor Burke attended the party, hosted by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, as a reward for his role as Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadet in the Royal Air Force Air Cadets.
The Sixth Form College, Solihull, student received the honour in recognition of his commitment to the air cadets, having joined the RAF Cadets in 2013.
Last April he was appointed the Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadet for the West Midlands.
While in this role he has taken on 15 official duties, including two Royal engagements.
The 18-year-old has met the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward during his visit to the Centre for Clinical Haematology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
In March Connor met the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, at the opening of a memorial in Cannon Hill Park to those who lost their lives in the Tunisia terrorist attacks.
Connor said: “It was an honour to be invited to the garden party at Buckingham Palace.
“My Officer Commanding came with me and it felt very similar to one of my official duties as the Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadet.”
Connor is in his final year of A level studies in Geography, Law and Mathematics at the College.
He has long held an ambition to be a pilot in the Royal Air Force, but is now considering a career in the Police Force.
Connor said: “Being in the Air Cadets has given me lots of opportunities and lots of contacts and I’m grateful for the experiences it has provided me.
“A career in uniformed service of some kind is really important to me, so whatever I end up doing I know that my time with the Air Cadets has helped me a lot.”
Connor has also completed his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and is a qualified St John Ambulance Activity First Aider.
He also had the chance to pursue voluntary work with the college.
He was part of the Team Gambia project in 2018.
He helped fundraise for a school in The Gambia and then spent a week working with the children at the school.
