Having spent 14 years as a Captain on 32 Sqn I believe that the asset most required of a VIP Pilot is the ability and courage to say "NO" when the cicumstances demand it. This was not an SAS insertion in a combat zone but a routine Passenger transit flight to be conducted under VFR in accordance with the rules and regulations pertaining at the time.
So why were these passengers not flown by other means, in an airworthy machine?