Reality check
I can't decide which is more charmingly quaint... the idea that PW should skip a party with his real friends to drink beer with his course...or that he cares very much what The Sun thinks of him.
The reality is that he has people who are paid to keep him out of this sort of embarrassment. They failed.
The rights and wrongs of using service assets for private fun can be debated for ever. But this wasn't right or wrong - just stupid.
Senior officers have no business spinning it as anything else. I suspect it's only out of a misconceived sense of loyalty... it would be comical if it weren't quite so demeaning to them and their service.
...or do they think it'll get them a Garden Party invitation??!