FIVE helicopter flights by Prince William which attracted criticism as an alleged abuse of his RAF training reportedly cost the taxpayer more than £50,000.

A Chinook flight to attend a stag do on the Isle of Wight cost £8,716, a national newspaper reported.

advertisement

The newspaper said it had obtained the figures from the Ministry of Defence under a freedom of information request.

William was criticised after it emerged that during RAF training, which ended in April, he was allowed to fly Chinook helicopters to the stag do on the Isle of Wight and to his girlfriend’s family home.

He also used the military aircraft to fly over Highgrove, the Gloucestershire home of his father the Prince of Wales, and over Sandringham, the Queen’s residence in Norfolk.

A further Chinook trip took the royal to Hexham, Northumberland, where he joined a wedding party.

A MoD spokesman said last night: “All flights undertaken by Flying Officer Wales were a legitimate part of his RAF training.

“In retrospect, there was a degree of naivety in the planning of the training sorties that either allowed Flying Officer Wales to attend private functions or land and take off (20 seconds later) from a privately owned field.

“This should not detract from what was an extremely successful and valuable attachment for Flying Officer Wales.

“He displayed natural flying ability and was able to gain an invaluable insight into the roles and capabilities of a modern air force.”

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------