William and his superiors will NOT be punished over prince's 'pleasure trips' in RAF helicopter

More embarrassing details emerged yesterday of the prince's sorties - including buzzing royal homes at Highgrove and Sandringham - during a week attached to a Chinook squadron.

The second in line to the throne has already faced criticism over the use of the £10million aircraft to travel to a stag party on the Isle of Wight, picking up his brother Harry en route.

William also carried out practice landings at girlfriend Kate Middleton's parents' home in Berkshire.

Now it has emerged that other £5,000-an-hour "training" flights included attending a wedding in Hexham, Northumberland, flying over Highgrove, his father's Gloucestershire home, and the Queen's country retreat at Sandringham, Norfolk.

The fact that all the prince's five Chinook sorties involved visiting friends or flying to family homes fuelled criticism yesterday.

But while RAF officials admitted there was a "degree of naivety" in allowing the flights, they said no rules had been broken and no punishments would be handed out.

Privately, however, RAF top brass are fuming at what they see as the poor judgment by the commanders involved.

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Prince William was awarded his wings by his father earlier this month. He then flew to the Isle of Wight in an RAF helicopter for a stag party

Prince William, 25, has spent four months learning to fly with the RAF, with a tailored training package to familiarise him with the service in preparation for the day when he will be head of the Armed Forces.

He spent a week with 7 Squadron, flying twin-rotor Chinook transport helicopters from RAF Odiham in Hampshire.

The station commander at Odiham, Group Captain Andy Turner, is likely to face "stern words", senior Ministry of Defence officials said.

Sources close to the prince stressed yesterday that he accepted his share of the blame for the blunder.

One insider said: "William drew up the flight plans himself - with the assistance of his instructors.

William's five joyrides in full...

Click on the image to enlarge

Click on the image to enlarge

"He genuinely didn't think he was doing anything wrong. Both he and the RAF personnel have accepted their share of responsibility. He's keen that the pilots shouldn't take all the blame."

The RAF has confirmed that William's flights began with a trip to Highgrove on Wednesday April 2, followed by a series of practice landings at Kate Middleton's family home at Bucklebury the following day and the flight to Northumberland on the Friday - ready to attend a friend's wedding on the Saturday.

The following Wednesday William flew to Sandringham.

Two days later he received his RAF wings at a special ceremony at RAF Cranwell, attended by Prince Charles, and then immediately flew off again to the Isle of Wight.

One senior RAF officer told the Mail of Group Captain Turner's frustration that the "freebie" trips were eclipsing William's achievements.

He said: "Frankly this sort of thing has always gone on - dropping a mate off somewhere en route, or flying over someone's house to give them a wave.

"If you're training for war you've got to learn to navigate a helicopter...and you can incorporate this sort of thing without it costing the taxpayer a penny more.

"It doesn't break any rules and it's good for morale.

"But if the future king's on board then of course it will get scrutinised, and then you're open to criticism, and some people will want to throw mud and claim it's all a pleasure trip."

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said the latest details would leave the MoD "reeling", adding: "Nobody objects to legitimate training for Prince William, but these flights smack of frivolity.

"The public will want to know why serious equipment has been used as a sort of air-taxi service when demand for military helicopters is so acute, particularly in Afghanistan."