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.

There are other options available of course. Chose your causes better, that don't show you up as a massive hypocrite and/or actually commit to meaningful change if you really must bang on about the environment etc.

Single pilot trying to get Bryant to an engagement, pressed on in deteriorating weather conditions and hit terrain (not the first time that's happened and won't be the last)..
or as the officials put it

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the pilot's decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot's spatial disorientation and loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's likely self-induced pressure and the pilot's plan continuation bias, which adversely affected his decision-making, and Island Express Helicopters Inc.'s inadequate review and oversight of its safety management processes.[2]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Calabasas_helicopter_crash

Wow. So completely avoidable.

Exactly as I would expect from a real republican @CathyorClaire , unfortunately you and @puzzledandpissedoff are apparently in the minority ❤️

It’s like when Tailor Swift got hate for her private jet use, turned out she had 24th highest jet miles, but was the highest rated woman. No one was judging the 23 men above her.

A minority only in the minds of some.

Taylor Swift wasn’t preaching to us about the environment. And she isn’t funded by taxpayers.

Interesting to see in the news he has now hired a crisis manager, if anyone needed one of those you would of thought H&M would of hired one and as we are repeatedly told on here William is popular so what crisis is going on that he needs one for...

Damn
I'd have applied for that job!
I could tell him exactly where he is going wrong

Couldn't we all!!! 😂😂😂

We could all have job shared half a day a week. 😆

And no toadying so he'd get it straight.

Joking aside, what an odd position to advertise for from the most popular section of the RF.

I'm just thinking I might let him know what he is missing in not employing me.

I have just looked her up. My goodness, she is a big cheese going from her past experience, she will be paid a fortune for this. She was Head of Global Media Relations for the whole of British Airways.
So KP have hired a Crisis Manager for William but she will be in a non-crisis based role. Yeah... right!

New employee Ms Ravenscroft described herself as a "seasoned media handler who believes in the power of strong relationships to defend and charm in equal measure"
A Kensington Palace source told The Mail on Sunday: "Liza is joining in a non-crisis based role in the KP press office, working on the day-to-day press interaction Kensington Palace has."

Yeah, I would have happily told William, for the price of a slap up lunch and a walk around Balmoral estate, that there will be less need for expensive PR managers in future, if you ditch at least half of your estates and trappings, and get stuck in to consistent, day to day boring, unglamorous visits to youth organisations, schools, factories, hospitals, care homes and hospices.

Btw, since when did Kensington Palace employ spokespeople who use German grammar?

Joking aside, what an odd position to advertise for from the most popular section of the RF.

Crisis, what crisis? 😂

Seriously though, why on earth do they need a big hitter like this?

Some of us have been quite critical of their PR so I guess they want to up the ante with the best of the best.

William doesn't want the type of monarchy we know to continue (the bread and butter engagements that make them visible), and he knows he can only use the growing family excuse for so long.

AMW is a big problem that doesn't seem to be going away, and he'll want to distance himself from that.

As they give less to the press the PR has to increase to make up for that.

Neither is the Prince of Wales.

Duchy of Cornwall (a private estate) to fund 'public, charitable and private activities'. He runs the Kensington Palace operation from this.

Possibly a contribution from the Sovereign Grant for official duties (not clear if all official duties are covered by above). The SG is a percentage of the profits from the Crown Estate that go directly to the Treasury - no contribution from the taxpayer.

His security is taxpayer funded.

I would imagine this is a very sensible move. Harry is only going to get more difficult as his significance wanes especially after his father dies. He's going to thrash like a dying fish. An expert removed from family is the way forward.

If you honestly think they are hiring this sort of crisis PR person because of Harry, I am taken aback, given more than one royal historian has said the real threat to the Monarchy is AMW. Not Harry.
And there is unrest, a lot of it, about royal estates and finances. Even now, we are awaiting the Public Accounts Committee to publish their findings about lease arrangements for the Royal Family and whether the public are getting value for money. Transparency about royal finances including the Sovereign Grant and the Duchies will hopefully follow with an inquiry.

You have no idea what Harry will be like after his Dad dies. No idea at all.

Oh Harry will be desperate - just my opinion though.

You obviously haven't read my reply properly but you would just prefer to answer with a silly gif.

I love that gif 😂 but I know many don't

But @bluegreygreen- William had made Earth shot his key work.

And the helicopter is not just for his personal use, the two of them were purchased for us by the whole royal family to support their public engagements. (This is why Anne is the biggest user of them.)

I don't think I argued it was for his personal use? What I've said about the helicopter is that he apparently does keep up his flying hours, and that if he were to use the offices at Windsor instead (as someone suggested) staff would have to commute instead.

Earthshot is one part of the conservation arm of the Royal Foundation.

@simpsonthecat

Harry is a problem because, in spite of the Windsor fan club here, he is popular.

Sure, a million and one polls can be trotted out to show this or that, but the fact remains that he has a loyal base. And, while P&PoW might be the most popular royals, royalty is not popular.

Invictus will be a very big headache.

They need to get a handle on what they stand for (besides a good life for themselves) and what role they will take in British society.

I mean - so far PoW has said his life work will be ending homelessness, peace in the ME, and Eco warrior... It just makes him seem like an ego maniac, and very immature.

They seem to pick the popular thing of the day and jump on it.

They definitely need crisis management.

Rumours on reddit are rife that Will and Kate have separated and sharing custody of the kids. See the comment about the Royal account not wishing her a happy birthday and her not wearing the blue engagement ring last week which she always wore pre 2024:

www.reddit.com/r/RoyaltyTea/comments/1q8nxgp/any_theories_as_to_why_the_official_ig_account/

Is this because he and two kids arrived at KP seperately, and now folk are looking for any small thing to confirm their theories?