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.

I think that has as much validity as the one that Harry lives in a hotel room and has a girlfriend who is a surf instructor.

her not wearing the blue engagement ring last week which she always wore pre 2024

Tired.

But wasn't this the ring seen swishing around idly in river water in the just released winter nature IG?

Wonder if that's why they put it in? Here's my ring everyone, shiny and bright in this ice cold water.

Except they did 🙄

And there's been numerous times over the years she's not worn her engagement ring. I think there's even old threads about it on here. Sometimes she just doesn't wear it - I don't always wear mine.

Edit to add - that Reddit thread is a cesspit of Sussex Squad propaganda.

In the past when Catherine hasn’t worn her engagement ring on hospital visits, the explanation given was the hospital had requested minimal jewellery for hygiene purposes.

I wonder why she wouldn't want to wear something that was synonymous with one of the most disastrous Royal marriages of modern times? She stuck it out without changing it for longer than I would have!

It has that connection for the general public. What William felt about it will be entirely different. A ring with so much personal attachment probably meant the world to both of them.

That massive ring is a hygiene issue! She’s also chosen to not wear it or take it off for hospital visits. When she stops wearing her wedding ring then those saying they are definitely separate might have a point, but not the engagement ring.

There are things to criticise Catherine over, her sensible choice to not wear her engagement ring to a hospital is not one of them.

I don't wear my wedding ring, it's too tight. Doesn't stop me from being married or feeling married. Being married is a state of mind.

Maybe the engagement ring is a little bit roomy at the moment and she doesn't feel comfortable wearing it

But you are absolutely correct, criticizing Catherine over not wearing her ring is totally unreasonable

Married couples/parents of three children can’t ever share family commitments and family transport needs between them? Or if they do, it’s a clear sign they are separated? How very silly!

The fact that the Duchies were not included in the Crown Estate in 1760 because they were worthless then is irrelevant now. The fact remains they were given back to the King/the heir as their personal property by an Act of Parliament in 1660 following the interregnum (Parliament had passed an Act seizing them after Charles Is execution - Parliament then sold off most of the Duchies’ landholdings to pay for their armies, hence their lack of worth 100 years later). That status remains. So there would need to be an Act of Parliament now to change that status again.

Also, the legal environment being slightly different now than it was in 1649, if the government did act to seize the Duchies as a state asset, they would have to pay compensation. Under the ECHR this must be fair, even if less than full market value (that’s just one legal obligation, there are other routes). This applies even following revolutions (in Greece, for example).

Sometimes she just doesn't wear it - I don't always wear mine.

I don't ever wear mine or even my wedding ring.

If I were a princess (I promise I'm not) Reddit might explode 😆

The fact remains they were given back to the King/the heir as their personal property

Odd then both are subject to constraints on the sale of assets and Lancaster is overseen by a high ranking cabinet minister.

Not really. We have a constitutional monarchy. Parliament has an obvious interest in the finances of the head if state even if some of those finances are private (they impinge on all sorts of issues of national security and stability). In the same way candidates for public offie in the US have to file public financial disclosures

The Duchies are not their personal property, they are state owned with an agreement to give William/Charles a slice of profit made from them.

But back on topic, are the helicopters state owned or private. Even if they are private, they've been bought with money handed to the royals from state asset driven income. 8 pages on this thread, and still no one can justify why William using helicopters (rather than cars/train) is anything other arrogance/selfishness/hypocracy. Why should tax payers fund this excess when normal people are struggling? and why should the general public listen to them talk about 'respect', 'service' and 'charity' when it's in plain sight that the RF is taking the piss out of the people upon who's back they stand.

People though William was the hope to modernise the RF, he seems worse than Charles.

From an outsider perspective in 2025 alone:

William goes to Easter Mass with his family. The vicar gives them hot cross buns. William accused of not going to church although he did, or criticized for not attending the service with Charles and Andrew.

William later attends a funeral with Charles and Andrew and is criticized for unfortunately having Andrew next to him.

William attends the funeral of the pope, wearing a dark blue suit, within the dress code. William criticised for not wearing black.

William building housing in Cornwall, with 35 percent affordable housing. William criticized apparently for charging rent.

William inherits Dartmoor prison contract and lots of other contracts from Charles, the person who probably held the POW office the longest. William immediately criticized for all the contracts that he inherited. He's been POW for 2 years. He's had to deal with family illness and to essentially run a huge corporation in that time. Im not a lawyer but I doubt he could have sat down in 2023 and ripped up all the contracts, told non- profits never to pay rent again, and everyone else to pay a lot less.

What's interesting is all the the Duchy of Cornwall stuff went on for years under Charles yet he is praised as a paragon of transparency.

I'm really hoping that William moves everything into Windsor and turns BP and KP into affordable housing. Possibly with casinos to subsidize the maintenance and repairs.

He can call them the Casinos Royale 😁
Typos.

The problem with most of the contracts with the Monarchy is with successive governments and their inability to negotiate properly. Kings have always taken from us as much as they can, and continue to do so. Parliament is meant to curb their avarice. They havent been.

Who on here has praised Charles as a paragon of transparency?
No one!
It is always been murky and opaque.

I hope William appreciates your robust defence of all he is doing Bemused American
Some of what you have listed I did not even know about, but thank you for pointing it out!

@TheHaplessWit

are the helicopters state owned or private. Even if they are private,

The costs of acquiring the two replacements for the King's Flight and the running costs usually gets mentioned in the context of the sovereign grant . How that works I'll leave to the experts.

and still no one can justify why William using helicopters (rather than cars/train) is anything other

That's a reasonable question in part but it's maybe important for the sake of context to realise these helicopters are not just for William's use or that the Royals use of helicopters is something new.

The two Augusta 139s that seem to have caused the stir are used by the Kings Flight, so all the Royals have access to them and were replacements for a couple of aging helicopters that were getting past their use by date. The Royals have used Queens>Kings Flight helicopters for several decades.

They weren't bought as runarounds just for William to use to fly around West London.

Absolutely this! The RF have been given far too much autonomy when it comes to their own financial management and over financial and employment disputes.

Instesd the Palace holds internal enquiries with predictable results that the public never gets to see.

In any other public institution, enquiries would have to be open and the results would be published.

Recommendations would be made and external inspections would determine whether or not they had been implemented.

And of course the excuse for this is always that some of the wealth is private and not open to public scrutiny,

Sorry but that is no longer an acceptable excuse in 2025 We are supposedly a democratic country. We want and need our head of state to be fully transparent and financially accountable.

They weren't bought as runarounds just for William to use to fly around West London.

Maybe someone needs to tell him that!
The royal family spent over £4million on travel in a year of which over £1million is on helicopters.

Here's the normally Royalist Telegraph breaking it all down, even they don't seem enamoured with the massive helicopter useage.
Each journey costs £17,000 and there have been up to 700.

https://archive.ph/QxK7e

@simpsonthecat

Maybe someone needs to tell him that!

I'm not quite sure of the point you are making.

I mentioned they "they weren't just bought as runarounds for William"

You replied that "The royal family spent over £4million on travel in a year of which over £1million is on helicopters"....

https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/25159592.princess-annes-helicopter-pool-academy-cornwall/

My point is clear... maybe someone ought to tell William they are not just runarounds going between KP and the forever home.
I am puzzled by your link about an Anne visit to Cornwall?

I understand that useage of the helicopters are many visits to Anne's Gatcombe home... that is understandable, she lives in Gloucestershire and she is a hard working Royal
William not so much, he uses them like we'd use a bus to my mind.

@simpsonthecat

"maybe someone ought to tell William they are not just runarounds going between KP and the forever home"

They're not......

"I am puzzled by your link about an Anne visit to Cornwall?

Puzzled? Seriously? In the context of this thread?

Have a hard look at the helicopter in the background in some of the images, better still check out the details of the registration.

Having done have another think about whether the two new helicopters really are just runarounds for William.