“Another day and another totally ludicrous letter from Philip Roe.” So wrote Adam McCartney in The Press (No Royal risks, Letters, April 21).

There was I, in my smug, self-important, Royal-loving way, thinking I was contributing well-scripted, grammatically good, thought-provoking missives for the good people of York to read, only to find out I was wrong.

Imagine my chagrin to discover one of my avid readers condemns my best-intended observation at the way our poor Royal Family gets picked on so mercilessly as a “ludicrous letter”.

I must bow in deference to Mr McCartney as, from his knowledgeable comments on Princes William and Harry it’s very obvious he follows their careers much more closely than I do.

I am a simple Royalist; Mr McCartney would appear to be a keen Royal Family observer, as witness his writing: “Prince William is only in his position as a trainee pilot because of his Royal blood. It is nothing to do with his aptitude for the job.”

Another gem was that Mr McCartney was in more danger collecting his newspapers from the shops than Prince Harry ever was when he was in Afghanistan.

An ex-shipmate, and good friend, of mine was third engineer officer on SS Atlantic Conveyor when she was hit by two Exocet missiles fired from an Argentine aircraft, in The Falklands War.

He, along with the rest of the crew, had to abandon the blazing ship and take to an overloaded life raft in freezing water, at night.

Who piloted the helicopter which flew to their rescue in a very hostile sky? Prince Andrew.

Not only a member of the Royal Family Mr McCartney despises so much, but obviously a highly-skilled pilot of immense courage, as strings could easily have been pulled to keep him out of harm’s way.

My apologies for another (possibly) “totally ludicrous” letter!

Philip Roe, Roman Avenue South, Stamford Bridge.