London (PTI): Just days after he was flayed for using Chinook helicopter to fly himself and brother Prince Harry to cousin Peter Phillips' stag party on Isle of Wight, Prince William is in controversy again. The 25-year-old second-in-line to the British throne sparked fury on Saturday night after he landed his 15,000 pounds an hour Royal Air Force chopper in the paddock of girlfriend Kate Middleton's home at Bucklebury.

"At a time when there is a lack of kit in Afghanistan and Iraq this is a total waste of money," an unnamed military source was quoted by leading British tabloid 'News of the World' as saying. Middleton and her parents Michael and Carole watched from their million-pound home as the Prince practised a series of landings and take-offs in the ten million pounds chopper during a two-hour military training exercise.

"William has been in the RAF for quite a few months and obviously wanted to show off his skills to his girlfriend. There's nothing more macho than landing a helicopter in your girlfriend's back yard. "He clearly hasn't lost the hunger to impress Kate. If you've got to practise taking off and landing in a field, it might as well be one close to the prospective in-laws," the tabloid quoted a royal insider as saying.

But news of the episode has sparked furious criticism, following last weekend's jaunt when Williams flew himself and Harry to cousin Peter Phillips' stag do on the Isle of Wight in another Chinook with an RAF pilot on board to fly it back.

"At a time when the Armed Forces are short of money and there is a lack of kit in Afghanistan and Iraq this is a total waste of money. He uses a Chinook to land in his girlfriend's garden then travels to a stag party in one. Where will it end?" one military source said.