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Prince Pilots Chopper to Gal Pal's Home

Military defends 'royal heir farce'

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 20, 2008 5:50 AM CDT
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(Newser) – British officials have defended allowing Prince William to land a military helicopter on a field next to the home of his girlfriend’s family after the media blasted it as “ridiculous and inappropriate,” the BBC reports. “This was a routine training sortie"—and no one entered or exited the chopper, said the Ministry of Defense. Wills' girlfriend Kate Middleton and her parents watched the landing from their home.

But an aviation expert slammed the flight earlier this month as a “waste" of training hours. "No other pilot at Prince William's stage of training would be allowed anywhere near" the driver's seat of the helicopter, he told the News of the World. The paper said Wills used the field because of a shortage of landing spaces in the area. The prince recently wrapped up an abbreviated training course as preparation to nominally lead the UK military.

Britain's Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton walk in RAF Cranwell, England after William received his RAF wings from his father the Prince of Wales Friday April 11, 2008.
Britain's Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton walk in RAF Cranwell, England after William received his RAF wings from his father the Prince of Wales Friday April 11, 2008.   (AP Photo/Michael Dunlea, Pool)
In this image released by Britain's Ministry of Defence, Prince William is at the controls of a Squirrel helicopter over Snowdonia, Wales during a training session in March 2008.
In this image released by Britain's Ministry of Defence, Prince William is at the controls of a Squirrel helicopter over Snowdonia, Wales during a training session in March 2008.   (AP Photo/ Cpl Scott Roberton, MOD HO)
Prince William is shown in an earlier training flight at the controls of a Tucano aircraft.
Prince William is shown in an earlier training flight at the controls of a Tucano aircraft.   (AP Photo/ Sgt Graham Sparks, MOD HO)
Britain's Prince William poses for the photographers after he graduated from the Royal Air Force College at the RAF Cranwell, in Cranwell, northern England, Friday, April 11, 2008.
Britain's Prince William poses for the photographers after he graduated from the Royal Air Force College at the RAF Cranwell, in Cranwell, northern England, Friday, April 11, 2008.   (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
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COMMENTS
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Tabloid reports on 'royal heir farce'
News of the World (UK)

Wills also flew to bachelor party
Times (UK)

 
Prince William • Kate Middleton • British military • Ministry of Defence • Royal Air Force

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