Prince Harry’s helicopter pilot past has seen renewed public interest this month as it was revealed on January 10 that he has been honored by the U.S. group “Living Legends of Aviation” as one of four new “legends” this year.
The move has earned backlash, with senior ex-military members in Britain suggesting there were other pilots and aerospace professionals more worthy of the title.
Harry’s background as a pilot dates back to his career in the British Armed Forces. He served as an Apache helicopter co-pilot and gunner during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2012. The royal’s military career was discussed at length in his 2023 memoir, Spare, with Harry revealing that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his front-line service.
Since the news of Harry’s “Living Legends of Aviation” recognition, social media debate around the prince’s flying experience has developed, including comparisons with his older brother, Prince William, who served with the Royal Air Force and emergency air ambulance service as a helicopter pilot.
Public interest in Harry and William’s relationship has grown increasingly since Harry split from the monarchy and moved to the U.S. with Meghan Markle in 2020. Since then, the prince has cited issues with palace aides, the British press and royal family members as influencing factors for the move.
In Spare, Harry gave readers the most revealing insight yet into his relationship with William, describing tensions, resentments and arguments between the pair. William did not publicly respond to the claims made against him.
Harry and William’s military careers crossed at an important point as they both trained as helicopter pilots at the Defence Helicopter Flying School located at Royal Air Force Shawbury, in northwest England, in 2009.
While studying on the same base—William with the RAF to become a search and rescue pilot and Harry with the Army Air Corps—the brothers lived together, giving a rare joint interview about their experiences during their courses.
The interview, given to a number of outlets in June 2009, saw the brothers take a number of fraternal jabs at one another, including William revealing frustration at having Harry as a housemate and Harry telling journalists he was a “better” pilot than his brother.
Asked how mentally taxing the course was, Harry responded that the theory exams were what he found most challenging.
“The struggle that I was talking about was mainly the exams and stuff like that. I mean, for the helicopter course, you start with something like four or five weeks of ground school and exams,” he said. “Exams have never been my favorite, and I always knew that I was going to find it harder than most people, but I’m through that now and finally got hands-on to a job that I absolutely adore.”
With this, he added a subtle dig at his brother: “It is still hard work, but I’m better than William, so it’s fine.”
William laughed off the comment and said that he’d been helping Harry prepare for his exams. “He needs a lot of help,” he said. “It’s the RAF way…So you have to help the Army out a lot.”
Later on in the interview, after more banter between the brothers, a journalist directed a question at Harry, asking what it was like following “high-achieving” William.
“It’s tough enough to do a course like this on your own [but] with the whole world watching and a high-achieving older brother watching, does it increase the pressure do you think?” the journalist asked.
“I don’t think that’s quite fair,” William said in response. “He’s doing a fantastic job. He puts himself down, but genuinely, he is seriously well. I’ve spoken to his instructor and stuff like that, he’s doing a fantastic job. So, yeah, he’s just very modest about it, but he’s doing very well.”
In Spare, Harry referenced the interview, suggesting that what appeared to be light-hearted banter could have been evidence that there were bigger issues between the royal brothers than he had at first acknowledged.
“Maybe there was some tension under the surface between us, which I wasn’t fully comprehending,” he wrote of their time on their helicopter courses.
“While sharing that cottage we agreed to a rare joint interview, in an airplane hangar at Shawbury, during which Willy griped endlessly about my habits. ‘Harry’s a slob,’ he said. ‘Harry snores.’ I turned and gave him a look. Was he joking? I cleaned up after myself, and I didn’t snore. Besides, our rooms were separated by thick walls, so even if I did snore there was no way he heard.”
“The reporters were having fits of giggles about it all, but I cut in: ‘Lies! Lies!’ That only made them laugh harder. Willy too,” he said. “I laughed as well, because we often bantered like that, but when I look back on it now, I can’t help but wonder if there wasn’t something else at play.”
On reflection, Harry questioned whether there was resentment from William that he wasn’t allowed to take part in active duty as Harry was.
