Prince Harry and Prince William were pulled into a public attack when it was supposedly revealed that the brothers travelled to a private stag do using an RAF aircraft.
An RAF Aircraft is not usually used for joyrides. Even if it is being used by Prince Harry and Prince William, it tends to give off an air of irresponsibility on the part of the Princes.
But a source believes the blame shouldn't have been laid at Prince Harry's door.
Apparently, Prince Harry became the "unfair" target of public outrage after being "dragged into a row" by Prince William, a senior palace source has said.
Reportedly the royal brothers came under attack after it was revealed they travelled Prince William took the "naive" decision to use an RAF Chinook helicopter to fly his brother and himself to the Isle of Wight for the stag do of their cousin, Peter Phillips, in April 2008. The second-in-line to the throne was completing his pilot training at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell at the time he flew the chopper down to London to pick up Prince William to later head to the Isle of Wight.
Apparently, this unauthorised trip cost taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds, and both William and Harry attracted the harsh criticism of the outraged British public after the news came to light.
Speaking to Duncan Larcombe, author of 'Prince Harry: The Inside Story' and royal correspondent, the senior palace source said: "It was felt that any criticism of Harry was unfair and William was very sorry that his brother had been dragged into the row."
The source added the brothers, and in particularly Prince William learnt from this mistake.
They said: "It was an unfortunate episode, a silly own goal that could and should have been avoided.
"It is unlike William to make such errors of judgement but it really did cause a fuss at the time.
"The reality is the boys should have travelled to the stag weekend by road because the risk of the story getting out was too great.
"The episode was a learning curve for William and as he went on to earn his RAF wings it was a mistake he never repeated."
Reportedly following the scandal, Clarence House issued an apology, entirely focused on Prince William. Unfairly or not, Prince William is the elder of the two and should have known better and besides he probably would have volunteered to take the heat for the misstep to protect his little brother. Isn't that what big brothers do to begin with?
