Prince Harry has recently qualified as an Apache attack helicopter pilot. Huzzah, Sir!
I have watched you and your fellow trainees flying over my house since we moved here last September and I forgive you for not spotting me and waving at me whilst I was working on our clay lump barn or walking our dog along the Suffolk fields and byeways. I know you saw me but I also know that cool dudes like us don't wave, even though I occasionally looked after your late Mother when she visited my neck of the woods and even though you, cousin Beatrice and I met last year, up in North Yorkshire ( hope you enjoyed the wedding ). I understand, H, lets stay cool, your OK by me.
To complete that course, to `ride the dragon`, one of the most complex and potent machines in the British Army, is to enter the small and exclusive world of its elite aviators, the very best of the best. To those who have no interest in such things but who like Tom Cruise and therefore need a simple analogy, Prince H has entered the British Army equivalent of "TOPGUN". If you want to read more about this remarkable piece of kit, there is a link to the right of my main blog page under the "Well Worth a Visit" header. Click on Ed Macy MC.
That a member of our Royal Family has achieved this and who, as likely as not will go into harms way (again in H's case, he was a JTAC in Af. until the media bubbled him), is actually something I feel very proud of, and I don't get that feeling very much these days. Bloody good bloke.
10 comments:
Hear Hear!
For some reason, the meeja don't seem to grasp that what he is doing is a Proper Job. Unlike theirs.
Good on Harry!
And God Bless your gracious queen,and grant her long, long life.
Seems like a Kingly fellow, in the old-fashioned sense. (warrior chieftain)
I have been hoping in vain, for years, that his Grandmother would recapture some of the old Royal Prerogative from that troop of baboons in Parliament. I think Anne was the last one to say, "Veto!" Charles ain't gonna do nuthin' like that, though I must say that anyone who hates golf as much as he does can't be all bad. Harry's just the younger brother, though. I wonder what kind of fellow William is.
The Stuarts have been gone for a long time now. I think we can trust the Hanover bunch with a little more actual power, they having mellowed somewhat since 1776.
P.s. I concur with Anonymous at 16:45, in re Elizabeth II. She bears a disturbing resemblance to my own mother, a very sensible woman. The royals seem to live for a long time if they can stay away from tobacco, which killed the last three Kings. (I don't count Edward VIII.)
Is there anything to stop a Prince from running for Parliament?
@Blue Eyes: Yes, I think so. The British Constitution is unwritten, but does forbid such, I think. The House of Commons is composed of, well, commoners. Noblemen are by definition not common.
I mind my Dear Dead Mom telling me on occasion, "Don't do that! It makes you look common!"
That doesn't quite answer the question! It's perfectly possible, for example, for a Peer to denounce the peerage and stand for election. In a true democracy why would being the grandson of the head of state be a bar to standing?
Prime Minister Harry Wales could be a good backstop against the insanity of a future King Charles!
TonyF: Their shallowness is irritating. The slightest research should reveal what a massive task he's completed to reach combat capability in that aircraft. It's like they're saying, `oh its just another Royal helo pilot`.
Anon: Thank you. She's alright is Her Maj`.
JTG: A bloody good bloke. As for 1776, a little misunderstanding, think nothing of it dear boy ;) (Now give us our f'ing tea back).
Blue: I think if enough of us got together and advanced on Parliament, and if we got Her Maj on board, we'd be laughing as she cannot commit a criminal act......no, wait, wasn't that tried before? What was that Cromwell bloke all about?
Hoggy, I have been reading, as is my wont Inspector Gadget's blog. He mentions that due to cuts, "control rooms" are not up to snuff. Is a control room the UK equivelant of dispatch?
Scott: Yes. I used to be a force control room (FCR) op for a couple of years. My old force had about 3,300 officers. There were area control rooms covering 4 areas. Overseeing them all was the FCR. As an FCR inspector, I had the delegated authority to authorised the arming of offricers in armed response vehicles etc, although many forces now have the ARV officers wearing their sidearms. The ARV would carry 2 officers, armed with Glock 9mm, an H&K MP5 or more commonly now with H&K 5.56mm carbine. In my force they also carried the H&K baton gun and this was used as a sub-lethal option. FCR also managed other incidents and would take certain types of emergency calls, ie those made from cell phones as opposed to landlines. FCR also managed the numerous force action plans. There's more!
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