Prince of Wales recalls first parachute The Prince of Wales recalled his first parachute landing in Dorset nearly 50 years ago, “Initially it was inverted and my legs were on the rigging line”. Charles, 72, showed a new color to the parachute regiment at a ceremony held at Merville Barracks in Colchester, Essex. On July 29, 1971, he was 23 years old when he landed from Andover to Studland Bay in Dorset. At that time, he received training as a jet pilot during a four-month internship in the Royal Air Force. In 1977, he was appointed as a colonel of the parachute regiment, and in 1978 he asked to participate in the parachute training course of the British Royal Air Force Britz Norton.