Prince Harry to Be Honored as a 'Living Legend of Aviation' — and John Travolta Is Hosting!

Mar. 15, 2025

Chris Jackson/Getty

Prince Harryis flying into a special group.

Prince Harry served as a helicopter pilot during his military service in the British Army, flying training missions in the U.S., U.K. and Australia as well as combat missions in Afghanistan.

He was awarded his Flying Wings in 2010 following completion of the eight-month Army Pilot Course with the Army Aviation Centre, learning to fly the Firefly fixed-wing aircraft and the Squirrel helicopter and accumulating approximately 220 flying hours. Harry spent 3½ years in training and operational service with the Apache Force during his time with the Army Air Corps, winning the prize for best co-pilot gunner during training and becoming a fully operational Apache pilot in February 2012.

Prince Harry in 2012.JOHN STILLWELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

JOHN STILLWELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Speakingexclusively with PEOPLEaround the release of his memoirSparelast year, the Duke of Sussex talked about his experience in the Army and his deeply personal work with service members.

“I don’t know that you ever fully reconcile the painful elements of being at war. This is something each soldier has to confront, and in the nearly two decades of working alongside service personnel and veterans, I’ve listened to their stories and have shared mine,” Prince Harry told PEOPLE.

“In these conversations, we often talk about the parts of our service that haunt us — the lives lost, the lives taken. But also the parts of our service that heal us and the lives we’ve saved,” he added.

Prince William and Prince Harry post with their trainers in 2009.Chris Jackson/Getty

Fellow inductees this year include Navy pilot Fred George, President and CEO of CAE (formerly Canadian Aviation Electronics) Marc Parent and Steve Hinton, an American aviator who held a world speed record from 1979 to 1989. Lauren Sánchez will also receive the “Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award.”

This year’s star-studded event will also include William Shatner, Kenny G, Kurt Russell and others.

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John Travolta and Princess Diana in 1985.corbis/Getty Images

Speaking withEsquireMexicoin 2021, Travolta admitted that he hadn’t prepared to dance with the royal.

“I didn’t think they’d ask me to dance with her. I had the great privilege and honor of doing so, and I thought, ‘There must be a reason for doing this and I better give it my all,’ " he revealed. “That meant lead the dance well and make sure we had fun. That was the easy part, but just the fact of greeting Diana appropriately, being confident and asking her to dance was a complicated task.”

The actor said that the experience felt like a “fairytale” that he would continue to remember for decades to come.

“Think of the setting. We were at the White House. It’s midnight. The stage is like a dream. I approach her, touch her elbow, invite her to dance,” he said. “She spins around and gives me that captivating smile, just a little sad, and accepts my invitation. And there we were, dancing together as if it were a fairytale.”

He added, “Who could ever imagine something like that would happen to them someday? I was smart enough to stamp it in my memory as a very special, magical moment.”

source: people.com