King Charles praises cadets to open first National Cadets Week
King Charles III has praised the United Kingdom's cadet forces in a written statement to open the first National Cadets Week.
The message was published on Monday, 5 October 2026. It honours cadets, adult volunteers and the youth organisations that support them, and it was issued under the King's name as head of state.
The statement pays tribute to five military cadet forces alongside the National Fire Cadets, the Volunteer Police Cadets and the St John Ambulance Cadets, as reported by Hello! Magazine. The King said opportunities for young people "to develop resilience, responsibility and a sense of purpose have never been more important." That wording is doing the work. It frames cadets as character and citizenship, not recruitment.
The numbers are large. More than 137,000 young people take part across the United Kingdom. The Cadet Forces are voluntary youth organisations sponsored by the Ministry of Defence, open to young people aged 12 to 18. They offer drill, adventure training, first aid, music and community work alongside school and home life.
What makes this week different is structure. The King's message coincided with the official opening of a new Joint Cadet Centre in Hastings, East Sussex. October 2026 will also see the launch of the first Cadets Action Plan, according to LBC. The plan is presented as a joint effort between government and cadet organisations to widen access.
The King has a long paper trail here. He founded Youth United in 2009 to create a network of the nation's leading uniformed youth organisations. That history explains the tone of the new message. It is supportive and administrative, focused on volunteers and local units.
The publication came just hours after separate legal action by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor against Thames Valley Police was made public. Mountbatten-Windsor has launched a High Court challenge to quash search warrants obtained by police, as reported by Al Jazeera. A search warrant is a court order allowing police to search premises and retain material. A hearing on the challenge is listed to be held in private on Thursday, according to The Washington Post.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, according to The Independent. Misconduct in public office is an allegation brought against a person exercising a public role. No charge has been reported in the verified facts, and the application concerns the warrants alone.
