Prince William Current Events 18: January-May 2008


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If he was well respected, rather than liked, I'm sure we would have heard and there is a difference between the two.
What difference would it make? If the trainee pilots that were with William at Cranwell all came out and said that he was a well liked and down to earth bloke who fitted in well and as far as possible, was treated as one of the lads, would they be believed? Or like any other positive slant on William would it be dismissed as 'PR'? Only those people who have met or worked with him know what he is really like but it doesn't stop plenty of people here exhibiting their speculative personal prejudices.
Isn't that what you are doing about William and other posters on here, speculating and assuming? :rolleyes: AITMOAFU's.

No airman/woman is going to come out and tell us all how they think he is taking advantage, that would mean an instant stop to any hopes of promotion and all the 'punishments' they could then be subjected to.

Perhaps if the PR team working for William and the RAF, didn't keep making excuses, it would be forgotten earlier, but when they keep trying to make it all seem 'normal', they are on a losing wicket. Even the trip to Afghanistan was a jolly, he got to sit at the controls of the Transporter and then they even managed to arrange the return of a body so he could meet the parents, shameful PR.
 
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What other avenue is open to us as we don't have a direct line to Clarence House or Buckingham Palace?:D :flowers: :ohmy:

Cat
 
I'm sure you would have dismissed a visit to the sick and homeless just as easily as nothing but a PR stunt. I'm sure a visit to a war zone and a meeting with a grieving family is just every 25-year-old's idea of a jolly good time. :rolleyes: ..... It was made clear from the beginning that he participates in a course specifically designed for him which is only natural since he only stays with them for 4 months. Hence the argument that "other trainees don't do this or that" is sort of futile. Other trainees aren't the future King either.
What wasn't made clear was that he would be able to use a helicopter to fly to a wedding, a stag do, visit the girlfriends parents. He wanted to learn to fly... great but to use RAF equipment for joyrides is beyond the pale for a lot of people (not it would appear some in the MOD). Yes he may be the head of the armed services in years to come, so as he will never be allowed to 'go to war', make him a trainee with the MOD or at the least a desk jockey.
According to the PoW website we'll see plenty of more "PR stunts" by William in the month of May. Starting in January 2009 he'll do "PR stunts" full time just like his father, grandmother and all the other members of the Royal family. :D
Many hastily arranged I am sure! :whistling: As no decision has apparently been reached on Williams future employment, how can you state that from January 09 he will be doing anything full time?
 
And what would be wrong with him practicing taking off and landing at the base? Considering he only landed for 20 seconds, how much practice could he have really gotten in?


There aren't always air bases conveniently located for landing. I see no problem with getting practice in at other places you might have to land in, such as open fields or even someone's backyard. Heaven knows I've seen it happen enough. I've seen a helicopter have to land in a school field with a schoolyard full of children nearby in order to get to a nearby shopping mall where someone had fractured their skull and was seizuring uncontrollably- I've also seen a helicopter have to land in a stable where my friend had been thrown from a horse (near a stable of horses who probably had never seen a helicopter in their lives and were seriously freaking out,) and they believed she may have broken her back. (She's ok now.)

Life doesn't give you a head's up when problems are going to hit.

In practice, everything is ideal. In reality, the situation may be far from ideal and only landing at air force bases where the environment is controlled (and all the people coming on and off them are military or connected to the military,) in terms of TRAINING is a really bad idea in my opinion. There are too many variables and the time to confront new problems that you don't know how to handle is when you are training and have someone more experienced available who may have already gone through that problem to handle it.

So what if it was his girlfriend's backyard? I live near a police academy- I also live near a small airport where helicopters and small engine planes take off and land. Do you have any IDEA how frustrating it is when you are trying to find a parking spot on campus, and parking is tight- and you arrive at school to find an ENTIRE parking lot has been blocked off because they are practicing landing?:ermm:

It happened to me more than once. I have no problems with PW landing in his girlfriend's yard as he probably had permission from both his instructor and the Middleton's. Gives him the experience he needs-check. Nobody got hurt- check.
 
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I still say regardless of the fact they weren't normal trips they still helped in his training. He learned how to fly different planes over the course of 4 months in different areas, circumstances. And he wasn't alone on any of those "joyrides" It was made clear that his training was adjusted to fit his schedule. so..ya. Anyways I thought the trip to Afghanistan was nice I see nothing wrong with it.
 
I have the same feeling about that kind of criticism. We don't know how far these public visits are planned in advance, and so people shouldn't assume that they're thought up at the last moment for publicity reasons. The only people who really know are the courtiers.

Its so sad when someone from the royal family does something nice its always labeled a PR stunt.
 
From the Scotsman: Prince's visit to troops in Afghanistan dismissed as PR exercise - The Scotsman

Prince's visit to troops in Afghanistan dismissed as PR exercise

Published Date:
01 May 2008
By Craig Brown
IT WAS hailed as the conclusion to his training with the RAF, but British troops yesterday criticised Prince William's secret flying visit to Afghanistan as nothing more than an expensive public-relations exercise.

Soldiers, along with commentators and anti-war campaigners, suggested the trip was being used to generate good press coverage in the wake of controversy over his piloting military helicopters to visit his girlfriend, Kate Middleton. "

So it seems to be a fact what Skydragon stated, that the troops are not impressed with what they see as PR stunts of the MoD.
 
Time for a new thread.

William's current events part 21 can be found here

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