Let us all discuss the news and great doings issuing from Montecito

[Uricon2]

WTF Ghana? Just why?

Ridiculous comment

The only way I can imagine a passport control person making a comment like that would be if Meghan first got offended and said something because they didn't use her title to address her. I'm not saying that was what happened, just that I can't think of how else it would come up.

Don’t forget clearance will have probably have been done in the general aviation terminal or, perhaps, though unlikely, even on board the aircraft, so there might not be many witnesses…

Objectively I guess we have no idea if the story really is true or not.

"Objectively I guess we have no idea if the story really is true or not."

Like practically every single story about any full or half member of the royal family.

Why ?

I think it’s quite a pertinent comment and something that has occurred to me also. She just whizzed back from Canada because she was missing the children, but now they are both off to Ghana, which is a much longer jaunt 🤷‍♀️

When travelling to the USA on a work permit I was warned border officials have no sense of proportion, no sense of humour and no sense of time. Don't to be funny, don't try to be clever...

If it is true I would say that is extremely gauche . Indeed I'd go further and say not a little embarrassingly up herself.

edited to add - if it is true

Why was she in Seattle? Surely a private jet could make it all the way from Vancouver to LA (or whichever local airport she used) in one hop?

I think it's because Santa Barbara airport only does domestic flights and it isn't set up for customs and immigration clearance.

The more relevant question for me is why she couldn't make the short commercial flight to LA.

Because Santa Barbara, SBA, the airport local to Montecito, doesn’t have customs facilities, it’s a domestic airport only.

Aircraft inbound from the likes of Canada have to first make a stop at a customs equipped airport (e.g. Seattle) for clearance before continuing on to land at SBA.

C&P (hence the capitals, sorry) from notes on SBA facilities, effective 23rd Jan:

“NO CUSTOMS PSNL OR FACS ARE AVBL AND INTL ACFT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO LAND UNLESS AN EMERG EXISTS.

https://www.airnav.com/airport/KSBA

Meghan would love my DH. He had watched Suits and was so pleased when she married Harry ( I was too but had never heard of her, recognised Conleth Hill from the cast but that's about it)

He immediately started affectionately referring to her (still does) as "Princess Meghan Your Majesty". I don't though think she got wind of it and it gave her Ideas😂

It’s how some of the other half live…..

It’s a choice of almost door to door with maybe a short pause en-route to get the paperwork done, and no worries about luggage limitations or wrangling the same, verses going commercial which means:

LAX and then a decent drive…or take a flight out of Vancouver to somewhere intermediate such as SFO clear customs and change onto a domestic that feeds SBA…

If you are very wealthy you will also likely make use of a luggage transport company, which will pick up your suitcases and transport them 24 hours ahead of you, so the butler service at your destination can unpack them, all ready for you to arrive. So you can walk onto your private jet literally just with your handbag. Imagine that!

Lots of people way richer and more famous than them fly commercial though. Harry regularly did it as a royal. And it's not like either of them have hectic schedules which would make commercial routes awkward for them. Not to mention, that the IG is a charity event, so extravagance like this feels a bit off, especially if there are suspicions that it was paid for out of the charity's funds.

The Wales family flew on a BA flight to Mustique.

Ahhh....bliss 💕

Yes all on the same flight 🤨.

I am just a tad uneasy about that .

Back to Joachim and Marie. Joachim is the second son who has struggled to find a role and seems distant from his brother the King but they are in no way celebrity seeking like H and M. They seem very focused on their own family and live discreetly and under the radar.

I know. But it would be rotten for them to be split up as a family, especially as W and C obviously value spending time with their children.

Yes, I don't think they've given tell all interviews/books/series etc either.

Part of me feels uneasy at William and George travelling on the same flight.
Another part thinks in the event of a tragedy it would bring much needed entertainment to the country to have H&M in the top job.
I'd love to see how they elevated Buckingham palace.

They did a bit of public grumbling when their children's royal titles were removed a few years ago, but other than that they've been discreet and low key.

They were wearing the Danish team gear at the IG and I haven't seen Marie changing into a new expensive outfit 3 times a day. I wonder if they insisted on a private jet for the journey to Vancouver?

I know the late Queen put her foot down about helicopter trips as a whole family (I don't think she liked helicopters much) but perhaps they should still split up for air travel. I think it was the way in the past?