Mick Smith and Brendan Montague
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NEVER has so much mischief been caused by such a new pilot in so little time. As new details emerge of how Prince William used a £10m RAF helicopter to ferry himself and his brother Harry to a stag party on the Isle of Wight last weekend, it was revealed that the prince used another RAF training flight to land in a field behind the house of his girlfriend Kate Middleton.
The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, reacted with fury, after discovering the prince’s flight to the Isle of Wight and has demanded a “line by line” explanation of what happened and who authorised it.
He was said to be incandescent at the “sheer stupidity” of letting the flight, which cost about £15,000, go ahead.
But the Ministry of Defence admitted last night that during a 10-day course learning to fly the Chinook helicopter, the prince also flew to Middleton’s parents’ detached, five-bedroom house in the village of Bucklebury, near Newbury in Berkshire.
The prince flew the 16 miles from RAF Odiham in Hampshire, circled over the house at 300ft before landing in a nearby field but did not get out. The MoD said last night that the Middleton’s parents were informed beforehand, as the landowner, and the police had also been informed in advance of the flight, which took place on April 3.
The revelation will add to the criticism of the way in which the RAF has allowed him to fit alleged training flights around his social life during the 10 days he spent being trained to fly the Chinook. It was the final stage of a highly truncated pilot’s course designed to give the prince, who is an army officer, a feel for the RAF.
On Friday, April 11, his father, the Prince of Wales, pinned the much-coveted wings to William’s chest at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. Later that day William flew the Chinook to London and landed at Woolwich, where he picked up his brother and fellow army officer Harry. They then flew to the Isle of Wight where, by happy coincidence, their cousin was having a two-day stag party.
The princes joined Peter Phillips, the 30-year-old son of Princess Anne, who is to marry a 29-year-old Canadian management consultant, Autumn Kelly, next month. The 26-man stag party, which included England rugby player Mike Tindall, boyfriend of Phillips's sister Zara, spent two days touring the restaurants and bars of Cowes.
Group Captain Andy Turner, commander of RAF Odiham, said the flight was designed to include “tactical low flying, including landing in a confined space in London and flying in low cloud, before finally landing on the Isle of Wight. On completion of the sortie, Prince William passed his Chinook course”.
The RAF claimed the flight was part of the prince’s training, even though he had already been given his wings. But one squadron leader said: “The idea that this was a legitimate authorised training sortie for HRH is absolute bollocks.”
Senior officers were concerned because the publicity reignited discontent among some pilots at William’s special treatment in the RAF.
One flight lieutenant complained: “Lots of guys get much further through the syllabus than William did and don’t get their wings, so it’s a bit of a slap in the face for them.
“What next? Will they give him a DFC [Distinguished Flying Cross] for coping with the dangers of a flight across the Solent?”
Yesterday, witnesses in Cowes revealed that the party, which began in restrained fashion in the 18th-century Anchor Inn, became wilder as local women targeted the princes after learning they were in town.
A source at the stag party’s hotel said: “The Friday night was very subdued, and Harry was just slumped on the sofa, but by the second night a lot of the girls from the town knew the princes were in Cowes and were very keen to spend time with them.”
“It all became quite sordid,” said a source at the hotel. According to one eyewitness a former pole-dancer was one of the locals who joined the entourage. Another, described as a lap-dancer and model was said to have offered to sleep with one of the princes; she was asked to leave by royal protection officers.
Another bared her breasts to the princes as part of a drinking game. Others balanced CDs on their nipples. Harry spent much of the evening deep in conversation with Kelly Furnival, a 25-year-old shop assistant.
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