The Duke of Cambridge thanks Tham Luang cave rescue divers and support staff

The Duke of Cambridge hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to recognise the extraordinary contribution made by British rescue divers and support staff to the Tham Luang cave rescue effort in Thailand earlier this year.

On 23 June, the football team were trapped in a flash flood inside Tham Luang, 4km from the cave’s entrance. An international effort including British cave divers transported the boys through flooded, narrow sections of the cave in the dark using guide ropes, rescuing them all.

His Royal Highness first met Christopher Jewell, Lance Corporal Connor Roe, Jim Warny and Martin Holroyd, who helped bring the trapped boys through the system of chambers and flooded passages to safety before being introduced to staff who provided support for the divers during the rescue mission. This vital group helped with everything from sourcing dive equipment to booking flights, arranging visas, providing medical advice and fundraising.

Today’s reception has been organised in association with Mountain Rescue England and Wales, of whom The Duke is Patron, and the British Cave Rescue Council.

Whilst The Duke of Cambridge was thanking European divers at Buckingham Palace, on the other side of the world, during the first day of their tour in Australia, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met Dr Richard Harris, an anaesthetist and experienced cave diver who was key to the rescue effort.