Royal helicopters and William

[FancyBiscuitsLevel]

So, not seen any threads on this - the story broke at the start of the week that the two new helicopters the RF took ownership of at the start of last year have already flown the distance of twice round the world. Anne is the biggest user and the explanation has been to allow multiple engagements on the same day and to allow secure access to more remote locations.

But in that, there was a detail about Prince William, last year he took the helicopter 52 times between Kensington palace and their new windsor home. Now, this is only about an 1 hour drive. There are regular train services between central London and Windsor. While the headline focus has been on the multiple uses for engagements on the same day by Anne (which to be clear I don’t begrudge if that’s the only practical way to do it), this travelling between your two homes that aren’t that far apart by helicopter feels excessive for someone who’s work is supposed to be focussed on the environment.

But in that, there was a detail about Prince William, last year he took the helicopter 52 times between Kensington palace and their new windsor home. Now, this is only about an 1 hour drive.

That's about once a week.
Rich people do rich things. I'm a soft Monarchist, but I really don't think this is a huge issue. Yes, he could take a car, but roads would be blocked and would need a 2 or 3 car motorcade +/- outriders. How much would that cost in comparison, plus the inconvenience to other road users and increased security risks en route. There would be complaints about that.

And it's nice how this topic neatly allows some pretty nasty rumours to be dropped in.

Maybe the nasty rumours are being dropped in because it’s Catherine’s birthday? Or am I being a tad cynical 🤔😆

the argument of “rich person doing rich person things” would hit better if a) it was his money and b) earthshot wasn’t his big thing.

Taking the most polluting option to avoid the mildest personal inconvenience doesn’t really fit with the idea that you personally care about the environment.

I agree. William is hypocritical on matters of the environment.

I am sure RF security can cope with UK road journeys.

Weren't William and Kate out and about together yesterday at Charing Cross Hospital?

I think the rumour is that they have actually split but not made it public so are performing royal duties together as usual but aren’t actually together

If that were true it would finish the RF

So, made up bollocks then

The only people who are spreading that rumor are batshit-crazy fans of that other couple. They have been spreading rumors about the Wales family for years.

For example, they claimed all of last year that the couple had separated—especially that batshit-crazy stalker site, Celeb@itchy, which was constantly talking about “separation houses” and the family living apart.

When it later came out that they had gone on three vacations together, with photographic proof, those claims were largely glossed over. Now they’re starting those separation rumors again. It’s laughable.

I’m not sure what kind of family dynamics they are used to, but families are not together 24/7, nor do they need to be. It’s completely normal for parents to divide responsibilities based on schedules and commitments.

In this case, it makes perfect sense for a father (William) to spend time with two of his children (George and Charlotte)—according to reports, they returned from Norfolk together, and William was also carrying a bag—while the mother (Catherine) is with their other child (Louis) for a separate commitment.

None of this indicates any kind of problem—just normal family life.

But it makes some people happy to think it.

Well said! Hypocrites all of them.

Come back to us when hes clocked up as many air miles as Starmer and his mate Lammy 🤣🤣

Comprehension. Not your top skill then

Whoever up thread used the word “grotesque” up thread is right.

The Duchy of Cornwall IS his money. The Waleses get Sovereign Grant funding only for royal duties.

Earthshot's mission is "to generate optimism and scalable solutions to repair and regenerate the planet by 2030. Modeled after the Apollo Moonshot, it sets ambitious goals to focus global efforts on environmental repair."

The new helicopter's very much fit in with this ethos of being the most environmentally friendly way of this mode of transport. Earthshot isn't about never travelling etc, it's about doing the least amount of damage possible and repairing as much as can while still allowing modern life (or that's my understanding of it anyway).

I hate the way the quote function makes it look like I wrote that post.

Well yes but this seems to be based on seeing William travel with 2 of the 3 children. But missing that it’s good practice to not have all the heirs travelling together. Catherine and one of the dcs travelling separately would fit into that and is a kinder version of what the late Queen did - her and Philip travelling together and the children travelling separately with Nannies. This way all the children get to travel with a parent but if there’s a helicopter/car crash, not all are wiped out in one go.

Having been stopped on an island on the motorway to allow Boris to get to Chequers it's more than 3 motorbikes - there were 6 motorbikes and 4 cars. I have no idea how that stacks up against a helicopter in terms of the environment but I was bloody pissed off at being held back whilst we waited for him to sweep by

The Duchy of Cornwall belongs to the state - which is why it pays no tax. The fact William gets a bunch a profits from it is because our politicians agree to let him have it, they could stop him having that money tomorrow (through a bill in parliment), they couldn't stop me making money from my assets, because I actually own them, William does not.

Back on topic - the fact that the RF have decided that cars are beneath them is just another level of fuck you to the general public. On the flip side, I'm kind of for it in a way, fatal helicopter crashes are more frequent than car accidents (see Kobe Bryant etc....) So we are only one incident away from King Harry! It would make the next series of 'The Crown' absolutely epic.

Fatal helicopter crash of a young family - you sound pleasant.

Yes ! Hooray! Let’s wish death on 3 young children, how very superior, how moral .

Mr Bean gets my vote

Although I hope there aren’t any fatal crashes, if anyone was to ‘mysteriously die’ in a crash, it would be Andrew. Or maybe it’ll be….cough….’suicide’.

Can you imagine what sort of a person you must be to a) have that thought in the first place and b) to post that thought on a parenting website.

Abolish the monarchy