Legend of the heir..
Aviation award for Harry lands him in row
PRINCE Harry has been named a “living legend” and will be inducted into an aviation hall of fame, alongside Moon-landing astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.
The Duke of Sussex will be honoured at a Beverly Hills event, along with others who have made “significant contributions to the aerospace industry”.
Harry’s 10-year military service, including two tours of Afghanistan and numerous training missions, has qualified him for the accolade. He rose to the rank of Captain.
But British top brass have called the award a pathetic publicity stunt and an ego massaging operation.
Next Friday’s Living Legends of Aviation Awards do, where VIP tables can cost £30,000, will be hosted by pilot actor John Travolta, a pal of the Duke’s late mum Diana.
Former head of the Royal Navy, Lord Alan West, said: “He is not a living legend of aviation. To suggest he is is pathetic. It makes the whole thing seem a bit of a nonsense if they’re willing to pick someone like Prince Harry.”
Retired military officer Colonel Richard Kemp said the award ceremony was just “celebrities massaging each other’s egos”. “He was a gunner in an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan, but so were many, many other people.
“It is obviously because of who he is – not what he did. An Apache is crewed by a pilot and a gunner. Harry was a gunner. He was number two in the aircraft.” Harry has the nod for the award ahead of fellow Apache gunship pilot-turned-astronaut Tim Peake, 51, who became the first British astronaut to walk in space.
The Duke, 39, will join other aviation and aerospace “legends”, including Aldrin, billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, actors Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman and Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud. Other aerospace icons to be inducted with Harry, include US Navy pilot Fred George and former world speed record holder Steve Hinton.
The event’s website praised Harry’s charity work, calling him “a humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate and environmentalist”.
It added: “He has dedicated his life to advancing causes that he is passionate about and that bring about permanent change for people and places.”