Not avation - but we've all milled around a BX in our time.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...0/nharry10.xml
This Daily Telegraph article states that Prince Harry tried to buy an iPod in the BX at Lakenheath but was (quite correctly) refused by the shop assitant due to non-entitlement.
As a one-off it would be a non-story, but a couple of comments made by the AAFES spokesman are interesting:
Lt Col David A Konop, a spokesman for AAFEE said: "The girl at the till just did not recognise the prince at all.
"If we had known Prince Harry was in the store, we would have arranged something special with the RAF commander of the base."
Lt Col Konop said that if the prince had made his presence known he could have bought what he wanted.
So fair play to HRH for not trying the "Do you know who I am?" technique. But, it would appear, that had AAFES recognized him then they would have happily broken the tax-free entitlement regulations.
Of more interest:
"I am told three or four distinguished visitors from the British Army come monthly and are allowed to shop there, so it would not have been considered special treatment," he said.
I would surmise that the spokesman thought he was countering an embarassing faux-pas on their part by refusing to serve Prince Harry. In doing so he has revealed that the entitlement regulations are regularly broken for certain privileged individuals.
I know that UK service personnel are not allowed to enjoy the tax-free status of American facilites, but I don't know where this is laid down. I would guess that it is in the statute concerning US facilities in the UK. Clearly these laws don't apply to Generals!