9 Weird Rules Adopted by the Royal Family for Traveling (Spoiler: The Queen Also Goes Through Border Controls)

The British royal family has to make many trips due to official visits to different countries, in order to maintain good relations between England and other nations. Most of the time, the royals have a preference for private planes, but sometimes Elizabeth and her family have to fly conventional airlines—first-class, of course. So you might even see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the back of the plane, waiting to go to the bathroom, for example. Yes, such a situation has actually happened and it is far from being that uncommon. In this post we are going to talk about the strangest facts related to the royal family’s travels.

O awesome.club will explain why Kate Middleton and Prince William, in general, are banned from traveling with children and why Prince Harry became the center of a scandal when he decided to visit Meghan Markle in Canada by paying for the ticket.

The royal family has the travel budget financed by taxes paid by all Britons, and that is limited. Thus, from 2016 to 2017, the displacement of monarchs consumed a total of 4.3 million pounds sterling. Therefore, private planes can only be used during trips connected with state affairs. At all other times, royals fly as ordinary passengers.

It’s even common to find these people on airlines — especially British Airways.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle not long ago were spotted on a British flight to Nice, France. The couple was seated in the back of the plane, near the restrooms. And Prince William, along with his brother, flew a low-cost airline to the wedding of Elizabeth II’s granddaughter Zara Phillips in Edinburgh.

Members of the royal family are not always able to maintain control and save money. Prince Charles, for example, is known as a lover of luxury travel. One of his visits to Romania, Italy and Austria, a relatively simple trip, cost 154,000 pounds sterling — about 800,000 reais. This was the royal family’s most expensive and outrageous trip in the past year. A journalist calculated that, with that sum, it would be possible to buy a plane from the United States Air Force, for example.

Unlike her son, who doesn’t mind wasting taxpayers’ money, the Queen herself often chooses the cheapest option and, instead of traveling by plane, travels using the train. She does not prefer a special royal composition, but normal travel. She did just that when she went to the Norfolk festival.

The queen is said to watch who spends and how much on travel, and can have serious conversations with spenders about it if she thinks they’ve crossed the line. Therefore, members of the royal family try to save money.

So Kate Middleton, on her first official visit to the Netherlands, traveled on British Airways. Afterwards, she and Prince William flew together to Los Angeles (USA) on a commercial flight.

If members of the royal family don’t want to use the services of a regular airline, they can borrow a plane from their friends.

There are rumors that Kate Middleton and Prince William do this. They often use British billionaire Hugh Grosvenor’s plane to go on vacation. The couple also love beach trips and paparazzi often photograph them by the pool or on a yacht with their friends.

Everything becomes more difficult when members of the royal family combine official visits with vacations. What happens in these situations and who should pay for the flight? So far it is not known.

That’s why Prince Harry took a risk when, after an official visit to the Caribbean, he changed his flight to British Airways paid for by the state and, instead of returning home, went to visit Megan in Canada.

Harry paid for his plane ticket, but his act was condemned by British society as it defied royal policy that the royal family should not mix personal travel with official visits.

Normal people can dress on flights in a way that makes them comfortable to travel, that is, they wear leggings, tights, sneakers and a sweatshirt. But that doesn’t suit the royal family. And, during the flight and at the time of landing, your limbs must be impeccable, formally dressed and looking impeccable.

So Kate always wears coats with a blouse or a dress, and Prince William opts for a blazer or jacket, shirt and pants. You will never see members of the royal family leave the plane in casual, everyday clothes.

All members of the royal family must have a passport and pass through border controls, like the rest of the passengers. So, little prince George (son of William) had to receive his passport to travel to Australia and paid a fee of 65 dollars. The royal family adheres to all customs and migration rules, but of course they don’t have to face any queues and their searches are faster than those of ordinary passengers.

Queen Elizabeth II is the only person who does not need a passport, as “Her Majesty”. But she has to pass inspections every time she enters or leaves Britain, reporting her full name, age, address, nationality, sex and place of birth.

Royal protocol establishes that 2 heirs to the throne should never travel together on the same flight, so that the royals are protected from eventual fatalities🇧🇷 Even though there are no official rules regarding the matter, all members of the royal family must receive special permission to fly from Queen Elizabeth II.

But she, on some occasions, can make an exception, as with Prince William. When Prince George was just 9 months old, he accompanied his parents on a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2014.

In September 2016, Kate and her children flew to Canada. And in June 2017, the family traveled to Poland and Germany.

Wherever Queen Elizabeth II goes or flies, she never changes one of its habits: the traditional afternoon tea. The queen prefers a typical English tea, which includes toast and her favorite cake.

When she takes a train ride, her assistants know that tea and her favorite drinks must be served 4 times at certain times. Her Majesty usually has a glass of gin with a wedge of lemon before lunch, then drinks a glass of wine during lunch or dinner and a dry martini at the end of the day. And before bed, the queen has a glass of champagne.

The royal family can sometimes afford to fly on low-cost airlines, but never without a security company. During their travels, all members are accompanied by specially trained people, in charge of their comfort and protection. But the average person is unlikely to notice them, as there aren’t many of them and they tend to stay in plain clothes. On average, they travel with 7 or 11 people.

Another detail of the royal family is the logos and special labels placed on the royal bags. For example, when Prince William was visiting Australia, journalists noticed that his luggage was marked with the letter W (William) and a crown.

Kate, on flights is more eclectic, although on one of her trips, her luggage consisted of a total of 25 suitcases and bags.

The luggage of each member of the royal family is specially designed and approved by a marking system with labels of a certain tone. Thus, Prince George has blue markings and Elizabeth II’s luggage has an inscription that says “Queen”.

Is that you? Do you have any rules or certain rituals that you practice when you travel? Tell us about them in the comments.