If Harrison Ford and John Travolta can be crowned living legends of aviation, why not Prince Harry? | Marina Hyde

In dark times, these are the heroes we need: one crash-landed, the other has a Boeing 707 in his driveway. The prince is in good company

Lovers of full-combat Prince Harry rows will be positively looping the loop over the latest one, which has drawn former British military chiefs out of the woodwork to fume about the prospect of the Duke of Sussex being named a living legend of aviation" this Friday in Beverly Hills. Prince Harry flew as an army helicopter co-pilot and gunner while serving in Afghanistan, but some people just will not countenance the idea that he's a millennial Douglas Bader. He is not a living legend of aviation," thundered erstwhile first sea lord and chief of the naval staff Admiral Lord West. 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."

Sorry, Lord West, but I don't see it. A living legends of aviation" ceremony, presented by John Travolta, who has not just a Gulfstream but a private Boeing 707 quite literally parked in his Floridian driveway? Induction into a hall of fame where fellow living legends of aviation" include Morgan Freeman (only got his pilot licence at 65) and Harrison Ford (once crash-landed his plane on a Californian golf course)? Fellow 2024 honorees including Jeff Bezos's fiancee, Lauren Sanchez? Again, I'm really going to need his lordship to elaborate on his policy position on this one. How can the whole thing" seem a bit of a nonsense"? And that's even before you consider the fact that the awards host, Travolta, famously once danced at the White House with the award recipient's mother, and retrospectively called this probably the best moment of the 80s". (A look at John's film credits for the decade will certainly confirm this.)

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist