The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 9: August 2023 - July 2024

[Leopoldine]

I agree - this is silly! As an American, I’ve never heard of this award. And if John Travolta is hosting it’s a celebrity thing

John Travolta, although a Hollywood fixture, is an accomplished pilot. He's licensed to pilot airliners, and owns at least one big jetliner. His sprawling property in Florida has an airstrip which allows him to land a plane on his property and taxi up to his house.

William Shatner is also going to the event. It all sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[Toledo]

I agree - this is silly! As an American, I’ve never heard of this award. And if John Travolta is hosting it’s a celebrity thing

The moment I read 'John Travolta is hosting' I went to check on what is this all about.

Seems to be an award that is now targeted to the Hollywood self-congratulatory celebrities and from the list of people honored is billionaires investing in the space race and they bring in celebrities since who won't want to be seated next to a Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk to pitch in a show?


Excerpt below from a press release given to Markets Insider Dec 12, 2023

" the "Living Legends of Aviation" are 100 remarkable men and women of extraordinary accomplishment in aviation and aerospace. They include entrepreneurs, innovators, industry leaders, astronauts, record breakers, pilots who have become celebrities and celebrities who have become pilots.

Some notable Legends include Elon Musk, Kenn Ricci, Harrison Ford, Buzz Aldrin, Jared Isaacman, Captain Jim Lovell, and Fatih and Eren Ozmen.

The Living Legends of Aviation Annual Awards Ceremony will take place at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.John Travolta is the event Host and "The Official Ambassador of Aviation." Other notable awards will be presented to Mark Burns, President of Gulfstream Aerospace, Kyle Clark of Beta Technologies, Linden Blue, and Lance Toland. New inductees into the Living Legends of Aviation will include Marc Parent, Steve Hinton, and aviation writer Fred George..."

In summary, a millionaires and billionaires self-congratulation award with claims, of course, to be the Aviation industry 'Oscars' that no one ever heard about. Anyway, congrats to Harry and Meghan to be included in a selected Hollywood culture event. Let's hope when they take the microphone to keep it short and sweet without innuendos. I only want them to motivate with the speech kids to learn aviation, not to sell or pitch ventures.

 

[shady lady]

I will post the website of this organization here, if members wish to explore:

https://kiddie-hawk-air-academy.myshopify.com/pages/about-us

They are a very small non-profit that mostly share its founder’s kid flight simulator with interest groups.

I would note that clicking on the “blog” link to see their posts is particularly edifying on the size and scope of the organization.

Thanks for that HRH Hermione. Very interesting! ?

 

[changemysoul]

I surely do hope some sweet things are added into the speech, there is nothing wrong with being sweet.

I'm also confused about why mentioning pitches and ventures would even be brought up as neither of them have ever pitched a venture or anything like while giving a speech focused at whatever event. I'd understand if it had been done before but it hasn't so that's a bit confusing.

And forgetting about Harry, I also find it amazing that someone in the thread already posted the qualifications of John but he's being demeaned as just a celebrity, thus, it's only some celebrity event and not an honor.

Dislike Harry by all means, feel like he doesn't deserve something by all means, but it's not right to dismiss and downplay the event because you don't like the person that's being honored.

 

[Lee-Z]

Exactly. In that perspective, its okay to give this award to Harry. He's an accomplished pilot who has flown helicopters in war zones. You could give the same award to Tom Cruise, who has flown his own stunts in movies in helicopters and airplanes.
Harry is in Hollywood now, and the shoe seems to fit.

from the living legends list, it appears that Tom Cruise has indeed received the award
https://living-legends-of-aviation.myshopify.com/pages/legends-library-2022-test

 

[Maryrose]

Maybe he is being honored for (allegedly) killing 25 Taliban fighters.

War is a terrible thing. I couldn't imagine what it would be like existing under a kill or be killed mental state of being.

 

[Toledo]

War is a terrible thing. I couldn't imagine what it would be like existing under a kill or be killed mental state of being.

Not so farfetched I'm afraid. It did cross my mind, when I read he was being honored for flying planes, his description of his actions during combat. I also wonder why he is getting this mention now, we have never seen him flying private planes at all.

 

[shady lady]

Not so farfetched I'm afraid. It did cross my mind, when I read he was being honored for flying planes, his description of his actions during combat. I also wonder why he is getting this mention now, we have never seen him flying private planes at all.

Possibly it has something to do with this:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/...e-they-also-served-british-army-b1130967.html

 

[ACO]

Good on Harry for being recognized by his aviator peers.
[.....]
.
Anyways..: hope they attend.

 

[Kenya]

Do have to laugh at some comments about people giving each other awards — I mean what forum do we post in? That’s literally all they do. Lmao.

Yes, they give awards. They don't receive them. But that's the difference between royal and being a celebrity/influencer. I'm just curious to know if Harry and Meghan have a special space in their home that houses all the awards they've accepted in the past few years.

Anyway, congrats to the organization. Despite previously having given awards to Tom Cruise, Jeff Bezos, and Kenny G, I'd never heard of the organization ore the award before now. From a PR standpoint, the organizers have already won by including Harry in this year's recipients and probably getting more attention than they've ever gotten before.

 

[Ista]

Several posts have been deleted or edited as they were off topic. Let's stick to the current topic of the thread. Further off topic posts will be deleted.

 

[Leopoldine]

I think this aviation awards gala is a good event for H and M to attend. It's awards season after all, and while the couple may be relatively small fish at the Oscars if they attended, this is a good choice. Plus, there must be some great sponsors like Netjets and Gulfstream. Sitting next to a CEO or account executive from any of those companies would be an attractive prospect for the Sussexes.

I think that it is meant to be a more light-hearted evening, in keeping with this festive Awards season. There's no reason why H and M can't enjoy themselves.

I do wonder if this non-profit ever tried to get the most famous pilot of modern times, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, to receive their award.

 

[Ripley]

I honestly never realised how many awards there are handed out in the USA...

Awards are often used to raise funds for non-profits in the U.S. For example, an organization will hold an annual dinner or gala at which an award is presented. They will choose an honoree who is likely to attract people to buy tickets to the event, or to take entire tables to benefit the organization. In the case of these aviation awards, Wikipedia says that they are currently sponsored by a non-profit called Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, whose purpose is to get children interested in aviation. Kiddie Hawk Air Academy acquired the rights to present the awards from a publication called Airport Journals, whose publisher had founded the awards. The name of the academy is clearly a play on Kitty Hawk, the place where the Wright brothers made their first flight. This is the website of the academy: https://kiddiehawk.org/pages/about-us

 

[Asteria12]

Yes, they give awards. They don't receive them. But that's the difference between royal and being a celebrity/influencer. I'm just curious to know if Harry and Meghan have a special space in their home that houses all the awards they've accepted in the past few years.

Anyway, congrats to the organization. Despite previously having given awards to Tom Cruise, Jeff Bezos, and Kenny G, I'd never heard of the organization ore the award before now. From a PR standpoint, the organizers have already won by including Harry in this year's recipients and probably getting more attention than they've ever gotten before.

The organisers and WME have had a win, I'd say! This is precisely the kind of thing that WME are looking for to boost the reputations of their clients.

 

[HenRach Dominion]

Even if it just was a PR award, what's the harm?

John Travolta gets free publicly for a cause he's passionate about, something that he's probably more focused on after the death of his wife a couple of years ago. HRH The Duke of Sussex gets free publicity or at least an opportunity to schmooze with other celebrities and/or business people, which will help with his business/philanthropic interests.

The people who are probably most happy about this are the ones that have complained that HRH The Duke of Sussex's brand is too heavily based on his anger about his family. Now he's getting an award on his own accomplishments without mentioning the BRF at all.

 

[Leopoldine]

The organisers and WME have had a win, I'd say! This is precisely the kind of thing that WME are looking for to boost the reputations of their clients.

I agree!

I think it's less about the gravitas of the awards and more about the aviation industry acknowledging their high-profile customers. And, IMHO, there's nothing wrong with that. It's award season. Los Angeles is awash in swag bags.

 

[miss whirley]

I think this aviation awards gala is a good event for H and M to attend. It's awards season after all, and while the couple may be relatively small fish at the Oscars if they attended, this is a good choice. Plus, there must be some great sponsors like Netjets and Gulfstream. Sitting next to a CEO or account executive from any of those companies would be an attractive prospect for the Sussexes.

I think that it is meant to be a more light-hearted evening, in keeping with this festive Awards season. There's no reason why H and M can't enjoy themselves.

I do wonder if this non-profit ever tried to get the most famous pilot of modern times, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, to receive their award.

Well Capt. Sullenberger went to Buckingham Palace, and received the UK Air League medal from Prince Philip.

So that's nice that the Air League recognizes real aviation heroes.

 

[MissByrd]

There are 1.8 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. Of that number, 1.4 are listed as charities. Almost every nonprofit has an award of some kind that their fundraiser/development department uses to bring attention and support to their organization.
Receiving recognition from one of these organizations is not necessarily a big deal.

 

[TLLK]

Well Capt. Sullenberger went to Buckingham Palace, and received the UK Air League medal from Prince Philip.

So that's nice that the Air League recognizes real aviation heroes.

I'm pleased that Capt. Sullenberger was recognized for his incredibly heroic act in saving the lives of the passengers and crew.

 

[HRHHermione]

There are 1.8 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. Of that number, 1.4 are listed as charities. Almost every nonprofit has an award of some kind that their fundraiser/development department uses to bring attention and support to their organization.
Receiving recognition from one of these organizations is not necessarily a big deal.

And as I noted elsewhere in the thread, this particular charity is so small and insignificant that the majority of their website- the blog, the “just for kids” and other sections- are just the default Shopify shell website text. The only other section with content besides the “about” page is information for a live auction that was held seven years ago. It doesn’t appear to have been updated since 2016.

You can be entirely neutral, or even very positive on Prince Harry or others who received this award and still look at this organization’s content and conclude very quickly that it is small potatoes.

 

[Leopoldine]

And as I noted elsewhere in the thread, this particular charity is so small and insignificant that the majority of their website- the blog, the “just for kids” and other sections- are just the default Shopify shell website text. The only other section with content besides the “about” page is information for a live auction that was held seven years ago. It doesn’t appear to have been updated since 2016.

You can be entirely neutral, or even very positive on Prince Harry or others who received this award and still look at this organization’s content and conclude very quickly that it is small potatoes.

Small beer, but Hollywood fun. Let them enjoy themselves.

 

[moby]

Well Capt. Sullenberger went to Buckingham Palace, and received the UK Air League medal from Prince Philip.

So that's nice that the Air League recognizes real aviation heroes.

Well-deserved, and that's how it should be. Royals bestowing awards granted by institutions to the most deserving.

Harry can have his Hollywood fun, yes, but I find it sad that from being in a position to bestow awards and honors to the most impressive individuals who have achieved great things, he is now receiving them from the most random sources.

 

[Mbruno]

War is a terrible thing. I couldn't imagine what it would be like existing under a kill or be killed mental state of being.

I was being ironic!

 

[shady lady]

Well-deserved, and that's how it should be. Royals bestowing awards granted by institutions to the most deserving.

Harry can have his Hollywood fun, yes, but I find it sad that from being in a position to bestow awards and honors to the most impressive individuals who have achieved great things, he is now receiving them from the most random sources.

Well said!

 

[changemysoul]

I don't think has had to fly a private plane nor is an American organization going to pick someone because of a book in the UK that wouldn't have made waves, if it weren't for the fact that they didn't include Prince Harry.

Well, more to the point, it wouldn't have made waves if the media hadn't gone out of their way to make a point that Harry hadn't been mentioned.

Liked or not, Harry is a Pilot, he did the time, he trained in America has well, he got his wings. He served his tours.

I didn't know about this until recently, but he also offered scholarships for disabled vets, to fly WWII Spitfires through The Endeavour fund. And then Travalyst, which is focused on sustainability in the travel/aviation industry.

Along with the Invictus Games and the other work he has done. The current living legends that sit on the board, are the ones who pick will be included next. So, something among had to speak to someone and everyone involved, agreed.

As simple as that.

 

[shady lady]

Archived article from The Telegraph, contains comment from UK armed forces personnel including the former First Sea Lord:

https://archive.ph/RAaV3

 

[Granada]

Harry and Meghan, sigh......just seem so controversial. Notorious almost actually. Can't seem to break from it either.

It must be bewildering for Harry, who was until 5 plus years ago only used to accolades and popularity.

And Moby I completely agree with your spot on comment about "Awards".

 

[TLLK]

Archived article from The Telegraph, contains comment from UK armed forces personnel including the former First Sea Lord:

https://archive.ph/RAaV3

Thank you for sharing the article.

 

[shady lady]

The Times is digital subscription only online but here is an archived version of their report:

https://archive.ph/mrfsk

P.S. For clarity, by headline news I mean a headline on online news websites such as this. I have no idea if the story made the front page of an actual newspaper, but it has certainly been reported on many news sites.

 

[Somebody]

The whole purpose of giving Harry this award if free publicity for this organisation.