The Corps has a long connection with the Royal Family, of which we are very proud. In 1933, HRH The Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, became the first Commandant-in-Chief of the Corps and remained in post until she died in Spring 1981. Following her death, HRH The Princess Royal became Commandant-in-Chief. In 1999, after HRH The Princess Royal kindly gave permission to use her title, the Corps changed its name from WTS (FANY) to: FANY (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps), commonly abbreviated to: FANY (PRVC).
In 1945, the then HRH Princess Elizabeth trained with the FANY/ATS as a driver and in motor mechanics. During the first three weeks of training, Princess Elizabeth received driving lessons in Windsor Great Park and went through the complete training for an ATS driver. Princess Elizabeth became the twelfth member of a Senior NCOs class and took maintenance, map-reading and ATS Administration. In the words of the FANY Commanding Officer at the time, Commandant Maud MacLellan:
“The King and Queen and the Princess herself insisted there should be no privileges for her. She was to be treated as a junior officer. As such, she called me Ma’am and was ever ready to open a door for me and do other little services. She was there as a junior officer – no more, no less.”
In 1994, the Year of the Yeomanry, which was also the Bicentenary of the raising of the first Yeomanry Regiments, a FANY marching contingent, plus a FANY rider in a 1907 replica uniform, participated in the Review of the Yeomanry by HM The Queen in Windsor Great Park on 17 April.
In 2007, the Corps celebrated its Centenary with several noteworthy events, including a convoy featuring vehicles used throughout the Corps’ 100-year history, one of which was an ambulance of the kind HM The Queen trained on during her time with the FANY/ATS. HM The Queen graciously gave her permission for all the vehicles, their drivers and members of the Corps to assemble on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, where both Her Majesty and the Corps’ Commandant-in-Chief, HRH The Princess Royal, made an inspection before the convoy set off on its route down the Mall, to the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
FANYs were honoured to be a part of celebrations in London on 12 October 2017, marking 100 years of women in the Royal Navy at the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall with HM The Queen and the Corps' Commandant in Chief, HRH The Princess Royal. The event celebrated the centenary of the Women’s Royal Navy Service and the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps.
The Corps was honoured to be one of the 2021 winners of the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in June 2021. The award recognises outstanding community work among local volunteer groups across the UK. During 2020 and the first half of 2021, members of the Corps contributed over 1,000 days in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our volunteers took time out from their jobs and family commitments to support organisations including: the National Emergencies Trust; Nightingale Hospital London; the Royal London Hospital; City of London Police; and three London Coroners.
HRH The Princess Royal, the Commandant-in-Chief of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps), attended Annual Camp at Longmoor Training Camp in Hampshire on Friday 20 May 2022. This was the first Annual Camp to be held following the pandemic, with nearly 80 members taking part. Annual Camp is a key training event in the Corps calendar that brings members together to take part in dedicated in-depth training in key areas of support for future volunteering roles and enhance team working across the membership. HRH The Princess Royal attended the Friday afternoon session where she met with a variety of members who were able to share details of the training sessions undertaken, and recent support provided. We continue to be grateful for HRH The Princess Royal’s invaluable time and encouragement, and are very proud to carry her name as the Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps.
Members of the Corps provided support to Joint Military Command in two roles at both the Queen’s Birthday Parade and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in June 2022. Twelve FANYs undertook watchkeeper roles in the ops room and co-ordinating casualty extraction on the ground.
Most recently, over 40 members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) provided support to the Accession Council Ceremony at St. James’s Palace in London on Saturday 10 September, for the Proclamation of HM King Charles III. Members of the Corps assisted with the running of the event and supported the organising team.
We will forever be honoured that Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II rolled up her sleeves as one of us.