Prince William made a top secret 30-hour flying visit to Afghanistan last week, it has now emerged.

A Royal spokesman said, “He flew out as part of the air crew of a C-17 transport plane on Sunday morning, and landed in Kandahar where he spent about three hours on the ground being briefed on the operations of the RAF and the base there.”

The spokesman added that Prince William then flew in another military transport plane to a Royal Air Force base in Qatar where he spent around two hours being briefed, before flying back to Britain on Monday afternoon. “He’s been on attachment with the RAF for three months, and learning how the RAF operates across the different aspects of the service. The culmination of that was to see the RAF in theatre.”

The trip “passed without a hitch”, the spokesman said.

Kandahar Airfield is the main air hub for British forces in Afghanistan, making it a high-risk target for the Taliban. Later William took his plane on to the Al Udeid air base in Qatar, the stop-off point for most British troops sent into the war zone. After staying the night on the base, he flew back to Britain with his two co-pilots, arriving on Monday afternoon.

We won’t speculate whether William landed the giant transport plane in Kate Middleton’s paddock on the way.

That more or less concludes his highly successful attachment to the RAF, during which he won his Wings and piloted a variety of aircraft on a range of missions.

Next stop the Royal Navy, beginning in June.

Flying in a Tornado fighter / bomber must be a daunting experience after piloting the immense carthorse of the skies, a Chinook helicopter.

Photo by an amateur from a mountain top with William circled

The Tornado GR4 specializes in low-level flying under the enemy radar. Pilots are trained in lonely spots like the Lake District in Cumbria and the Highlands of Scotland.

Yesterday Prince Willam was taken on an 80-minute sortie as part of his acclimatization course in the flying service.

An RAF source said, “We’ve taught the Prince basic flying skills, but this was showing him how we actually fight an aircraft. There were no diversions for any sightseeing. Prince William experienced first hand the combat teeth of the RAF. His flight gave him a clear understanding of the complexities and demands of flying the RAF’s fast jet aircraft on the frontline.”

We hear he tried to wave to Kate Middleton, but by the time he’d raised his arm he was in Scotland. [Joke -- I think]

Judging by the people I’ve spoken to about his exploits in recent weeks, William seems to have come out of it all very well. Most people admire him for his spirit and sense of adventure.

So some stuffy top brass went red in the face and harrumphed for England — no doubt for the benefit of the politicians. But I don’t think that was reflected lower down in the ranks of the RAF where the real work is done.

As a new Knight of the Garter he outranks any Air Marshal on all fronts.

1. Prince William and helicopters
Another day, another row over where Prince William landed his helicopter. Haven’t these people got better things to occupy their time?

A Chinook helicopter like the one that William landed at Kate’s place

It seems the second in line to the Throne used a field adjoining girlfriend Kate Middleton’s home to practise landing and taking off. He did so with permission from the Middletons and the RAF.

The MoD said in a statement: “Battlefield helicopter crews routinely practise landing in fields and confined spaces away from their airfields as a vital part of their training for operations. These highly-honed skills are used daily in conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Opportunities to use alternatives are therefore regularly seized. The aircraft landed in the field, after taking all necessary safety precautions, and was on the ground for 20 seconds. No one got on or off the aircraft. This was very much a routine training sortie that achieved essential training objectives.”

The idea that William was “showing off” is, of course, utterly preposterous.

2. Chelsy invite
Chelsy Davy has been invited at last to the wedding of Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly on May 17.

One of her university friends in Leeds is quoted as saying, “Chels received the invite last week but she has yet to reply. At the moment, her focus is her work. This is a tough term and she’s studying very hard. She was really put out not to have been invited, not least because Kate got an invite. Chels doesn’t particularly like hanging out with the young Royal crowd – she far prefers relaxing with her friends – but she doesn’t like to be forgotten about.”

Chelsy has not yet responded to the invitation.

3. Harry back on with Chelsy
Another day, another twist in the Prince Harry / Chelsy Davy romance saga. Many of us guessed they were back on again after their recent joint holiday in southern Africa.

“They are very much back on,” the Mail has been told. “Harry came up to Leeds and it was all very hush-hush.

“They stayed at a mate’s house as there are always a load of photographers outside Chelsy’s place, so no one actually knew that Harry was in town.”

That was two weeks ago. Together with Chelsy’s invitation to the wedding next month, it looks like it’s normal service as usual.

Prince William flew a heavy-lifting Chinook helicopter to the Isle of Wight for Peter Phillips’s stag party, it has emerged.

A Chinook Helicoper like William flew costs £35m ($70m)

He flew from RAF Cranwell to Woolwich Barracks in London to pick up Prince Harry before flying on to the Isle of Wight, following his Wings ceremony on Friday. The helicopter’s co-pilot then took the aircraft back to base.

All told the chopper saved the two Princes a six-hour journey through rush-hour traffic and a ferry journey.

Prince William’s RAF commanders defended the flight, claiming it had been authorized and that flying over London and open water was an essential part of his RAF training.

An RAF spokesman said, “Having spent a week under instruction with a Chinook helicopter Squadron Prince William flew a legitimate training sortie which tested his new skills to the limit. Flying at low level Prince William piloted the heavy support RAF Chinook helicopter through the busy London flying lanes to a helicopter landing site in Central London before departing the lanes to the South West, making a water crossing and an approach to a civilian airfield routinely used by Chinook Squadrons. His final flight tested his burgeoning flying skills to the full and he performed very well indeed.”

At the end of all that was a stag party in traditional outrageous style. William was no doubt also celebrating his major achievement of getting his Wings and flying the ultimate military machine to a right Royal party.

William’s future plans include embarking on an intensive course of Royal engagements to prepare for becoming a full-time working Royal in 2009. He will spend two weeks travelling the country on behalf of his charities and meeting members of the public.

The Prince is patron of 14 organizations and is described as being “keen to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in” by publicizing the charities’ work during May.