It’s been two days since King Charles and Prince William’s handover event at Middle Wallop, where Charles officially made William the colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps. Prince Harry served in Afghanistan as an Apache pilot in the Army Air Corps. Harry trained for years to be able to fly Apaches, as he detailed in Spare. William doesn’t have the intelligence or patience to actually learn how to fly a complicated machine like the Apache. But William does have the audacity to try to “one up” his brother by posing in the Army Air uniform and posing for photos in the Apache. As I said, it’s been two days and I’m still astounded by just how poorly this scrambled-together event went, to the point where even the Mail’s military sources are sort of mocking William.
Getting to grips with the Apache helicopter was easy for ‘accomplished pilot’ Prince William – but Prince Harry demonstrated more flair and ‘Top Gun swagger’, experts have said. The heir to the throne, who is a former RAF search and rescue pilot and flew an air ambulance for two years, took control of the fearsome multi-million pound gunship on Monday, flying it from an Army airfield in Hampshire.
William’s debut came as he was made the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps during a rare royal outing with King Charles, where he was welcomed by his younger brother’s former unit – the 662 Squadron.
Defence expert Philip Ingram, a former Colonel in British military intelligence, said getting to grips with the basics of an Apache would be relatively straightforward for ‘accomplished pilot’, William. But the veteran officer said there was a big difference between simply getting the state-of-the-art gunship off the ground and flying it into combat like Prince Harry did during his time in Afghanistan. And while William appeared confident behind the stick, a body language expert has claimed his younger brother appeared to have more ‘Top Gun swagger’ when he was in the cockpit.
Col Ingram told MailOnline: ‘There is a difference between flying it and fighting it – I have flown a Harrier Jump Jet where I was in sole control for a good 20 to 25 minutes – it was a two-seater – but the instructor was shadowing my every movement. William is an accomplished helicopter pilot so taking control and flying wouldn’t be difficult with an instructor’s supervision.’
Basically, William did the same thing he did as an air ambulance pilot – he sat in the cockpit and made vroom-vroom sounds while the “co-pilot” did all of the work. It’s difficult to have BDE when you’re obsessed with copying everything your little brother did but you don’t want to put in any of the work. William really thought he could put on the uniform and sit bewildered in the cockpit and people would rush to say he was clearly “better” than Harry. It does beg the question… what do actual military figures think about all of this jealousy and pettiness coming from the heir? How do they feel about being used in the Windsors’ increasingly unhinged games?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Britain’s Prince William speaks to service personal at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool),Image: 872574376, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William speaks to service personal at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872574448, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William speaks to service personal at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872574532, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon
Britain’s Prince William speaks to service personal at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872574556, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William speaks to service personal at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872574666, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William walks with service personal at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872574753, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon
Britain’s Prince William stands in front of an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872590487, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William stands in front of an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872590545, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William gets advice as he sits in an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872590610, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon
Britain’s Prince William prepares for boarding an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872590640, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William reads instructions as he sits in an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872590663, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William steers an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. King Charles III officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales.,Image: 872590688, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL GETTY PA AFP REUTERS NPA IPA CPNA IN, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / AvalonncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcW9hbn91e9OhnJilkZ65tKvMoqOirJGnxqCx16mcq6yjlMCitcOYp6uhnpiyoMPIpaOimZ2UsbCx0qermKCRq7KgtMislpuqn6m1pr7SmKqwmZecsrN7