I must say the righteous pontification that is going on in this thread is pretty stunning, even for Pprune. Some of you people are clearly terribly insecure...
The award of wings to HRH was a symbolic gesture, tipping a nod to the fact that the bloke is going to be our Commander in Chief one day. That he was awarded wings in no way denigrates the one's I, my colleagues and forebears wear or wore. I know what I went through to get them and that's that. I don't need to march around the streets announcing it to all and sundry. HRH brings no shame on the RAF wings brevet - quite the opposite. Just think about the various morons, perverts and criminals over the years that have been awarded wings - if you want the value of your wings lowered, these are the people to go to, not some 25 yr old lad who, by virtue of birth, is thrust into this situation. As I've said before on this subject - get over yourselves. If you're anti-Royalist, fine, crack on but don't use these recent events to snipe at the lad and sully the RAF's name.
As for the Chinook trip - whoopy do. Seriously, this isn't a waste of tax payers money. The aircarft would've been flying anyway so who gives a rat's arse. I too am also a taxpayer and can safely say that there are actual, genuine wastes of my money that I would like addressed. Dressing this up as a shocking waste of taxpayers money purely to promote an anti-Royalist agenda is just sad. Yes, Chinooks are needed out in theatre but do you cretins seriously think that we'd just stick them all out there and that would be it? Crews do actually need training every now and then. FFS.
As for public perception I can GUARANTEE you that this fell off Joe Public's radar the minute they turned the page to the tits on page 3. Seriously folks, people really don't care - there are far bigger things for them to worry about namely the credit crunch, The Apprentice and the next Big Brother.
Stop taking yourselves so seriously
