London, June 30 : Prince William is facing criticism over the alleged misuse of his RAF training as he took five military helicopter flights for personal visits, which would have cost him more than 50,000 pounds.

According to reports from a national newspaper, the Royal heir took a Chinook flight to attend a stag do on the Isle of Wight that costs 8,716 pounds.

These figures were obtained by the newspaper form the Ministry of Defence under a freedom of information request.

The 26-year-old prince faced criticism after it was revealed that he was allowed to fly Chinook helicopters to the stag do on the Isle of Wight and to his girlfriend’s family home, during his RAF training.

William also flew off in the military chopper over Highgrove, the Gloucestershire home of his father the Prince of Wales, and over Sandringham, the Queen’s residence in Norfolk.

In another flying trip, he took the Chinook to Hexham, Northumberland, where he attended a wedding party.

“All flights undertaken by Flying Officer Wales were a legitimate part of his RAF training. In retrospect, there was a degree of naivety in the planning of the training sorties that either allowed Flying Officer Wales to attend private functions or land and take off (20 seconds later) from a privately owned field,” The Sun quoted a MoD spokesman, as saying.

He added: “This should not detract from what was an extremely successful and valuable attachment for Flying Officer Wales. He displayed natural flying ability and was able to gain an invaluable insight into the roles and capabilities of a modern air force.” (ANI)