William, Harry, and Andrew: Maestro asks why they are not held accountable
Following up on the comments in the Forums (Point 5) about the royal family being answerable to nobody, what can any sane person think about the ‘pranks’ of our two young princes who by now should be old enough to know better?
Take William first. He is training supposedly as an RAF pilot, yet he was able to borrow a big, double-rotored Chinook helicopter just to visit his girlfriend’s home! This ‘borrowing’ was not authorised by the RAF, the cost to taxpayers was considerable, and any ordinary RAF trainee pilot doing the same thing would have been cashiered.
Or take the case of Harry. He is a young Army officer and yet he is permitted to refer openly to colleagues as ‘queer’, ‘Paki’ or ‘raghead’. This is within an institution that is reported to be making great efforts to turn itself into a highly inclusive organisation. Anyone else would be sacked for such behaviour.
Was any MP allowed to raise these issues in Parliament? Of course not! When will our MPs dare to ask questions on such matters?
Then there’s the case of a more mature prince: Andrew. For reasons that are not immediately obvious he was appointed (by whom?) as Britain’s ‘Special Representative for International Trade’. In this role he incurs enormous travelling expenses paid for by British taxpayers. Does anyone question whether
(a) his job is necessary
(b) he is the best person to be carrying out this role
(c) he is any good at it
(d) all his expenses are fully justified?
One of our Parliamentary Select Committees should call Andrew to appear before them so that they can get to the bottom of this business. And this should be done without delay.
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Taking a royal liberty with the RAF
Point 2 of the Manifesto states that ‘Members of the royal family who are full-time members of the armed services should be subject to exactly the same terms and conditions of service as their peers’.
William obviously took the helicopter for his own pleasure purposes in the knowledge that the RAF would let him get away with it because of his royal status.
In other words, William knew that the terms and conditions of service don't apply to him. He and his brother want to enjoy the fun and glamour of service life without the discipline, risk and sacrifice faced by other soldiers, sailors and airmen.
It’s appalling that a spoilt royal brat can treat an RAF helicopter as his own private vehicle when our under-equipped and underpaid boys are dying for Queen and Country in Afghanistan.
Putting your life on the line
It’s a fundamental military principle that you can't have two categories of soldiers:
1) normal soldiers who are expected to fight and die or be horribly injured for their country
2) royal soldiers who must not be put in harm’s way under any circumstances (William), or who can only have brief forays to the front line and must be protected throughout by normal soldiers (Harry).
If William and Harry aren't prepared to risk their lives for their country or can't be allowed to do so, then they shouldn't be in the armed forces.
Royal Air Hobby
Since Prince William is the second-in-line for the throne he has to have 24/7 protection wherever he is.
It's not fair on all the other men and women serving with him to have to carry a 'passenger'. Either you're a proper RAF officer, or you aren't one at all. If you have to be given special protection by your fellow officers you're not one of them and you make their job more difficult.
William will shortly be joining the RAF air sea rescue unit - where the risk of enemy fire is somewhat limited. It's a safe bet that he won't be sent to Afghanistan.
This job will be like an extended hobby for him, with a nice uniform and lots of time off when ‘royal duties’ call or pleasure beckons.