Prince William Current Events 18: January-May 2008


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Im Just over this at this point people make mistakes ,The press always put a spin on things (More Bad than Good I Think). It would be difficult to be them (The Royal Family )I Think but thats just my opinion, I Dont want a Republic.
 
I think you are mixing three different questions though, tommy.
One is whether he needs to learn to fly in the RAF in the first place. And I agree, he doesn't but it's a royal tradition for the heir to go through all 3 branches of the military. And I wouldn't be so sure that it's all been William's choice really. He never striked me like the type who wanted to go to the armed forces but he did because that's what's expected of him. And it's understandable that he would see that side of the RAf that distiguishes it from the other branches of the military, i.e. the flying.
The second part is that he doesn't fight. That NOT Wiliam's decision. The MoD decides whether he'll be allowed to fight in combat. I think it's unfair to blame it on William if it's considered too much of a risk for him to go. He is the heir, there's no comparison to Andrew. And I think if he got the "green light", he'd be off to Afghanistan or Iraq in a heart-beat.
The third part is whether he abused his position as a trainee when he took those training flights. And I think he didn't and I think the public should be able to look beyond what the papers feed them. No extra money was wasted because William got to chose the destination of his training flights. Simple as that. I see no reason for him to apologize.
Unless one considers his whole training a waste of tax payers money, all of this is nothing but a storm in a tea cup, IMO.
 
I agree totally that it almost certainly did not cost any extra money and i honestly don't think William said "i want to fly to .........". Yes RAF officers and MOD officals share the blame, but William is hte future king and this does, i believe, throw open the question of his judgement. He simply must have known that this would not look good to the media, that htis would not end up looking good to the public. And that is quite serious given the way that any modern royal family, adn a modern king/prince must be able to understand the idea of PR and public percetion, which im not saying i agree with, but that alot of people, and the media, all do.
When i say he shoud apologise i shoud say that an apology or explanation - if he said "look - yeah i landed in kate's back garden but i had to land somewhere so i did what any of us would do given the chage and tried to impres some friends. The media have blown the story out of proportion but sorry if anyone is offended" then that woule be fine, i'm not suggesting he grovels for giveness. But the silence from William andclaren house gives the IMPRESSION that he and they don't really care what the public think.

I would like to say that i love the british royal family, especially the younger generation, and i will after this, and yes the media and some peopel will use this to call for a republic and blow it out of all proportion. I don't think its that bad at all. I jsut think it could have been handled better.
 
William is the heir to the throne and can do just about anything he pleases at just about any given moment....He is about 98% as perfect, caring and sensitive as an heir has ever been. I would rather he not enjoy flying so much (as tragedy struck the other Pirnce William) but he's entitled to do just about what he pleases..and that includes a little fun at taxpayer'e expense every now and then...
 
milla Ca said:
Is there nobody to stop this stupid boy?:bang:
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Exactly. He's mixing private issues with business which is always bad. Is there nobody to tell him that? Family? MoD? Especially a person like William who hasn't done much yet to demonstrate his service to his country should be very careful when spending other people's money. Every other guy would be sacked after such a "romantic" stunt. It won't help both to raise their public image, neither William nor his "girlfriend" or whatever Miss Middleton should be called.
 
tommy1716 said:
I agree totally that it almost certainly did not cost any extra money and i honestly don't think William said "i want to fly to .........". Yes RAF officers and MOD officals share the blame, but William is hte future king and this does, i believe, throw open the question of his judgement. He simply must have known that this would not look good to the media, that htis would not end up looking good to the public. And that is quite serious given the way that any modern royal family, adn a modern king/prince must be able to understand the idea of PR and public percetion, which im not saying i agree with, but that alot of people, and the media, all do.
When i say he shoud apologise i shoud say that an apology or explanation - if he said "look - yeah i landed in kate's back garden but i had to land somewhere so i did what any of us would do given the chage and tried to impres some friends. The media have blown the story out of proportion but sorry if anyone is offended" then that woule be fine, i'm not suggesting he grovels for giveness. But the silence from William andclaren house gives the IMPRESSION that he and they don't really care what the public think.

I would like to say that i love the british royal family, especially the younger generation, and i will after this, and yes the media and some peopel will use this to call for a republic and blow it out of all proportion. I don't think its that bad at all. I jsut think it could have been handled better.
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What would William be apologising for? The flight to the IOW was probably a bad idea but didn't break any rules and this and the other flights would have been approved by the RAF. An apology would only add fuel to the fire as it would imply that he had done something wrong and simply embarrass the RAF still further.

Personally, I would rather that William's life wasn't dictated by the vagaries of the media desperate for a story (and let's face it with Prescott's bulimia as the main story it is clearly a slow news day), by 'renta-quote politicians and pressure groups or by that section of the British public who are consistently determined to be shocked and outraged by something.

Duke of Marmalade said:
Exactly. He's mixing private issues with business which is always bad. Is there nobody to tell him that? Family? MoD? Especially a person like William who hasn't done much yet to demonstrate his service to his country should be very careful when spending other people's money. Every other guy would be sacked after such a "romantic" stunt. It won't help both to raise their public image, neither William nor his "girlfriend" or whatever Miss Middleton should be called.
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You are absolutely right - if the 'other guy' unilaterally decided to take a helicopter and land it in the field next to his girlfriend's parents house.

But if the 'other guy' did this as part of a routine training flight which involved landing in fields and with the permission of his instructor then being sacked might seem a little harsh (or frankly ridiculous).

Of course, we wouldn't have to worry about it as the chances of the 'other guy' being exposed in the media are almost nil even though he too would be spending other people's money.
 
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tommy1716 said:
He doesn't have to land or fly anywhere because he doesn't have to be in the RAF for show, he could have joined the RAF and not learnt to fly, my dad and sister are in the RAF and both do not fly, but it seems William is jsut intrested in the "cool" part of the RAf which is flying, he dosen't seem intrested in learning about the back work that is put in by many many otehr trades in the RAF.
I agree with you int he fact that if he is training, which i'm not massively against, he had to land somewhere, what i worrry about the most is the judgement, or lack off, that William, and yes Clarence House officials and William's superiors have shown, they should have know landing in William's girlfriends backgarden would have LOOKED bad, flying over Birkhall would have LOOKED bad, flying to the Isle of White would have LOOKED bad. He didn't do anything wrong, but he didn't do naything right either.

i've always admired William, i think he has grown up under impossible circumstances, and has shown real maturity and sense, but these revelations do not look good, and the fact he obvoisuly felt it was acceptable showed he does not seem to, in this instance, have realsied the huge public scrutiny that people righlty have into his life,when he i sspendign TAXPAYERS money, with no intention to serve in the Armed Forces.

If he was going to go off to fly helicopters and risk his life in te armed forces, seving in conflcit zones, as his uncle, Prrince Andrew, did then he could land a helicopter in the middle of Hawaii and take a 2 month holiday, but he is not. That is wherei have a problem with this. He's been through Army training, learning to fly a aircraft and now a heclipoter and soon will be on baord a navy ship, simply so he can say when he is King " i was in the military" which to those who have or know people who have been in armed conflit is to a degree insulting.

If he apoliges, simply saying - "Yeah, i had fun and messed around a bit in my training which everyone does but i realsie people might have expected better of me" then most people would be pleased, and i'd be one of them.

Its the fact that in years to come he'll use this as justification or saying "i was in the military" that gripes me.

Sorry to those that don't agree but thats my opinion.
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In a way I don't have a huge problem with William landing in Kate's back garden, I understand that he had to land somewhere as part of training, and certainly if one place is as good as another, why not your girlfriend's back yard? I'm sure lots of young men would have done the same.

But the problem I see with William is that this behaviour, along with using the helicopter to get to Peter's stag night, makes it look like he's just learning to fly in order to have fun--that being in the military is just a bit of a joyride for him. Not only do I think it looks this way (and thus makes him look bad in the eyes of the public, to start with) but I think William really doesn't have much of a sense of responsibility and this is only one of many things that suggest this. Everywhere I've seen pictures of William or interviews with him, or hear about things he's done, it's always the same--laughing, joking around, nothing serious, fun and games. He seems like a nice, friendly person and probably a lot of fun to be around. I don't have any problem with William liking pranks and jokes and even landing in Kate's garden. It just doesn't seem balanced out with any serious sense of direction in life. I agree with tommy1716 that we already know William is not going to ever fight in the military, so he at least needs to act like he's training for valuable experience and know-how. But the way he acts, William seems like a little boy who's learning to fly just to show off. It's not the fun and high spirits that are the problem, the problem is that there is no balance. An apology might rectify that a bit.

It boils down to the fact that William seems immature to me. Nice, personable, but for a 25 year-old, pretty immature.
 
Trader said:
What would William be apologising for? The flight to the IOW was probably a bad idea but didn't break any rules and this and the other flights would have been approved by the RAF. An apology would only add fuel to the fire as it would imply that he had done something wrong and simply embarrass the RAF still further.
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You are right, an apology would not be acceptable, not when there are real pilots, servicemen and women risking their lives. Lets not worry about William having a jolly or two and fulfilling his lifelong ambitions at the expense of the taxpayer and the reputation of the RAF.

I am so glad that the idiots that allowed this are going to be reprimanded!

pinkie40 said:
Lesser mortals have been known to get certain practice run flight patterns approved for clearance..and by coincidence they have often been to impress a mother, grandmother or a special girlfriend of someone who has worked hard to get their wings. It's not like he's using a helicopter to go play a round of golf within a very reasonable driving distance like a particular close relative does on a regular basis.
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Really, who. William barely touched on the normal requisites of training and got his wings BEFORE he even completed his training.
Complete disgrace, he should get a dishonourable discharge or at least be charged for conduct unbecoming, Misuse of military equipment or a severe reprimand. You never know a week in Colchester might do him the world of good!
 
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The royal advisors are being a bit dense if they really don't see the difference between stopping off in Granny's back garden or even visiting the home of a new fiancee and paying a visit to a girlfriend's house just days after a previous incident that generated rather dubious publicity.
 
Since all William is doing is learning different aspects of armed forces, I really don't see the big deal with his training stop. Even by the more cynical journalists, his flight was approved and seems to be standard part of training exercise. I would think the good thing with stopping in the Middletons' would be to avoid potential distraction of people excited by the sight of a royal training in their backyard and rushing out to take photos that would have made the evening news. At least he could concentrate on learning the manuvers. He didn't go in the house for tea.
 
Ok now that I've read the full article I have to say this sounds like one big mess. Nice to hear though he'll be a full-time working royal by January. I do think though they'd better do something about all this or else this will hurt William in the long run. I have to say though I still see nothing wrong with William learning to fly. I just feel like everyone should get a chance to do what they dream of doing career wise, William included regardless of the fact he can't fight or anything like that, I've always felt that way. I also don't think we should question William's judgement just because of this, I don't see him as immature because I don't think full blame can be placed on William alone IMO from everything I've heard and read. I know it seems like I'm defending him, but that's not what I'm trying to do.
 
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Now I begin to share the view of "Prince William's milatary training is a huge waste of public money". I am not against him staying in the military but I feel that the structure of his military training lacks the focus. It is probably not his facult but his avisors should be more realistic about Prince William's life schedule. He will have his honourable titles in long time.
I don't think Prince William should choose to land any private places as he likes. These acts will certainly cause outcry because this prove that the royal family has unfair priviliges which can be seen as corruptive behaviors. During his military training, people do do expect him to intalled with self-discipline and sense of duty as well as the fairness among people. The royal's role are to set examples despite these examples are probably very hard to achieve and maintain. Prince William should be more careful about his behaviors and think about the circumstances of his behaviors both in private matters and public affairs.
 
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I can see how people are getting all wound up and upset because it may look a bit insensitive during this time of war when his future subjects (and friends) are off in the nether regions defending his country....but he is the heir to the throne and has a little leeway in how he can act and thus get "away" with it...in theory...

Too much ranting about all this (which amounts to very little special treatment in the grand scale of his very grand life) reminds me of the Willie Hamiltons out there, I'm afraid....at least no one brought up his "carbon footprint"....yet.

Each criticism of the heir chips away at the Monarchy. There are plenty of other royals who need to toe the line a bit tighter but I think it would be wise to not focus on William... William, if he makes it to be king, will be the best Monarch/world leader the world may ever have....I truly feel that way.
 
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Everyone is going on about how William should choose better places to land but have we all forgotten he got the ok to land it in Kate's backyard by the people in charge, shouldn't they themselves have realized what they were allowing him to do? That's why I can't say oh William is fully to blame when it comes to situations like these.

William, if he makes it to be king, will be the best Monarch/world leader the world may ever have....I truly feel that way.
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I beleive that as well. No matter what mistakes he may make, I think in the long run this mistake may teach him a valuable lesson, I mean he's human we all make mistakes no matter what the circumstances.
 
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Skydragon said:
I am so glad that the idiots that allowed this are going to be reprimanded!
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It would also be nice to see he is reprimanded as well with a letter in his military file.

pinkie40 said:
William, if he makes it to be king, will be the best Monarch/world leader the world may ever have....I truly feel that way.
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I'm curious in, what has he done to make you feel that way?
 
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Both princes are in the army but the way this is received in public is just a big joke: playing rugby and driving around on a motorcyle in the big adventure playground Afghanistan in Harry's case and using a heli to be dropped off at a stag night and landing in girlfriends back yard in Will's case. It's all about having fun, isn't it. Even if they are still young I am missing a bit the seriounsness about what they are doing and that goes along with their position within the institution.
 
I have always liked Prince William, but at the moment I feel a bit disappointed with some of his behaviour regarding this issue with his flight lessons. :(
 
Well can't wait to see what hapens when he goes on palacement with the Navy, will he be commandeering a battle ship for a crusie around the med?

I think the whole idea of hte military and te young princes has become something of an embarrasment to the royal family.

If it had been handled better by ALL concerned the media stunt may have been pulled off.
 
I agree with those who say this is much ado about nothing. Media is so gong ho to make the royal family look bad.
 
Skydragon said:
You are right, an apology would not be acceptable, not when there are real pilots, servicemen and women risking their lives. Lets not worry about William having a jolly or two and fulfilling his lifelong ambitions at the expense of the taxpayer and the reputation of the RAF.

I am so glad that the idiots that allowed this are going to be reprimanded!
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So is William supposed to apologise for undertaking the course that the RAF planned for him? I realise that you don't think he should have been given the opportunity to do it but that's rather water under the bridge now isn't it?
 
I agree that William and his advisors should have made different choices in light of the second event in Kate's field. As King, he is going to have acquire a more diplomatic consideration of his actions. However, it is unfair to place all the blame on Williams shoulders. He has people advising him for a reason since theoretically they are more experienced than he is. He also has commanding officers who are supposed to be in charge of these decisions. As he was allowed by his superiors to use the equipment as he did, it's a bit ridiculous to accuse him of misuse of it. If it was misuse, they should have prohibited it. By all means though, throw William in military prison! Absurd.

At the end of the day, he is a firstly a monarch in training, not a career soldier in training. So to make negative comparisons regarding what training he receives as opposed to the training given to other soldiers is really like comparing apples to oranges. When William is King, there will be thousands of career officers, but he will be the only king. As the future king, he also cannot be expected to serve in active combat. Prince Charles, with his chest full of medals, received vastly more training in the Royal Navy but he never went to war. What makes William so different? Prince Charles also earned his wings under the same type of training that William received and nobody cries about the taxpayer expense for that. Every monarch has a full military dress uniform covered in medals for this that and the other thing, most of them given for fluff military service if they served at all. Now all of a sudden it seems people are shocked and shaken that a royal is giving a passing glance at a military career on his way to the throne.
 
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Trader said:
So is William supposed to apologise for undertaking the course that the RAF planned for him? I realise that you don't think he should have been given the opportunity to do it but that's rather water under the bridge now isn't it?
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William is supposed to apologise for taking advantage. bad enough that this training programme has made him think he is a real RAF pilot but with these jolly jaunts he has lost the respect of many service personnel. he certainly seems to take after his uncle and with the recession, the last thing we need is another playboy.

kimebear said:
I agree that William and his advisors should have made different choices in light of the second event in Kate's field. As King, he is going to have acquire a more diplomatic consideration of his actions. However, it is unfair to place all the blame on Williams shoulders. He has people advising him for a reason since theoretically they are more experienced than he is. He also has commanding officers who are supposed to be in charge of these decisions. As he was allowed by his superiors to use the equipment as he did, it's a bit ridiculous to accuse him of misuse of it. If it was misuse, they should have prohibited it. By all means though, throw William in military prison! Absurd.
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William could have suggested it might not be a good idea (and we haven't heard anyone coming forward to suggest that was the case), despite a concerted effort by some members of the MOD to convince us that it was not Williams fault. I can imagine William saying what a good laugh it would be rather than 'do you think thats a good idea'. He was complicit in misuse of a military craft and misuse of taxpayers money, if he wants to learn about the forces, let him take the punishment that would be handed out to ordinary air crew
At the end of the day, he is a firstly a monarch in training, not a career soldier in training.
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Then do the training without pay or offer to pay for the flight training. He hasn't learned about the RAF or what keeps it ticking, if he really wanted to learn on his way to being a King, there were many engineering and other trades he could have signed up for but I suppose to William, it doesn't look as impressive being an engineer. 30 - 40 years down the line, he will need to have earned some brownie points with his subjects, the republicans are truly having a field day with these jaunts.
.......What makes William so different? Prince Charles also earned his wings under the same type of training that William received and nobody cries about the taxpayer expense for that. Every monarch has a full military dress uniform covered in medals for this that and the other thing, most of them given for fluff military service if they served at all. Now all of a sudden it seems people are shocked and shaken that a royal is giving a passing glance at a military career on his way to the throne.
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As King he would, I think, have to earn some respect from his people. No Charles did not go to war, as many don't (and it was more than extended training, he was on active service for a few years) but times have changed and the decadence from playboy princes is no longer acceptable to many, especially as we do have men and women in war zones.
 
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I wondered about the wisdom of letting William and Harry fly around together, even if William has qualified he is fairly inexperienced. Just think of the American example of JFK, Jr. Perhaps I should practice my royal wave in case of a "King Ralph" incident?

As for William's bad press... this reminds me of the continual rivalry of the Queen vs. Princess Margaret, or Diana vs. Fergie. The press always needs a bad guy. Harry's been shown to advantage recently with his stint in Afghanistan and his promotion, so it was "good" William's turn to be the bad guy.

But the stag night and landing in Middleton's field were both pretty stupid stunts, reminescent IMO of Tom Cruise in Top Gun.
 
And now we see the fall out from this - i've read alot of reports about William and Harry's visit to injured troops and there are some suggestions that this a PR stunt to try to dampen the helicopter stories.

Now i don't believe for a minute that it was just a PR stunt, but people now thing that, this shows just how the incident with the helicopters has affected people's perception of William.​
 
Prince William needs some good publicity pronto. He seems like a genuinely nice kid but the public perception of William as the Prince with the good, sensible head on his shoulders is slowly but surely eroding over time and ironically it is naughty Harry who seems to have grown in the public's estimation. I am not sure why this is, but the incident with the helicopter doesn't help does it??

For the record I think this thing is being way overblown but I have felt for some time that William sometimes comes off and entitled and churlish. This helicopter thing just confirms it....and I really REALLY hope he does not eventually marry Kate Middleton. I just don't feel she would be that great of an asset to the Crown.l
 
Skydragon said:
William could have suggested it might not be a good idea (and we haven't heard anyone coming forward to suggest that was the case), despite a concerted effort by some members of the MOD to convince us that it was not Williams fault. I can imagine William saying what a good laugh it would be rather than 'do you think thats a good idea'. He was complicit in misuse of a military craft and misuse of taxpayers money, if he wants to learn about the forces, let him take the punishment that would be handed out to ordinary air crew.
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Your imagination aside, the fact remains that someone higher up on the military food chain than William allowed him to use the equipment as he did. This is not a case of where he stole the keys off the hook from Daddy and took the Aston Martin out for a spin. Since you have repeatedly claimed a well versed understanding of the military, you of all people should know the clearances and scheduling required for these sorts of exercises. These plans were approved by the people in charge. If these are the people who are running the RAF and they are unable to say no to the "playboy prince" or consider such exercises as poorly planned, then the RAF has bigger problems than William's jaunts.


Skydragon said:
Then do the training without pay or offer to pay for the flight training. He hasn't learned about the RAF or what keeps it ticking, if he really wanted to learn on his way to being a King, there were many engineering and other trades he could have signed up for but I suppose to William, it doesn't look as impressive being an engineer. 30 - 40 years down the line, he will need to have earned some brownie points with his subjects, the republicans are truly having a field day with these jaunts..
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What 25 year old would not want to receive the most exciting training that the military had to offer as opposed to a less glamorous position? 30 -40 years is a long time, and as none of us are psychics and cannot predict what he will due to earn brownie points during that time, it isn't productive to debate what the future holds. The republicans are going to have a bigger field day if monarchists hold the future king in such disdain that they would like to see him imprisoned for an offense he didn't commit.

Skydragon said:
As King he would, I think, have to earn some respect from his people. No Charles did not go to war, as many don't (and it was more than extended training, he was on active service for a few years) but times have changed and the decadence from playboy princes is no longer acceptable to many, especially as we do have men and women in war zones.
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Almost every monarch has seen times of war and upheaval with men, and now women, in war zones. True decadence is the fact that the members of the BRF are ferried about in helicopters all the time that cost the taxpayers money. The only difference is that someone decided to make a big stink about William flying one himself. Be it a Chinook during training or a ride from Windsor to BP, its still an expense.
 
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