Prince William criticized for using royal helicopters to travel everywhere

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There are a handful of royal stories making somewhat minor headlines from the past five days or so, so I thought I would do what amounts to a royal round-up. These stories are mainly about the Cambridges, Will, Kate, George and Charlotte. Over the weekend, William seemed to spend some quiet time at home at Anmer Hall, where he celebrated his 33rd birthday and his first Father’s Day with two kids under the age of two. We don’t really know what William did for his birthday, quite honestly. I’m shocked that we haven’t heard anything about a quickie vacation. So, here’s a round-up of Cambridge stories.

Will & Kate will appear at Wimbledon. They missed out on the Royal Ascot, but Kate especially loves tennis, so of course there’s a report that Will and Kate will take time away from their schedules (?) to appear at some Wimbledon matches next week. This is how The Daily Mail wrote it: “William and Kate are keen on lawn tennis. While they try to avoid too many royal patronages, I wonder if they covet the presidencies of the All England Club and the Lawn Tennis Association?” LOL, “they try to avoid too many royal patronages.”

Will loves to fly in expensive helicopters. Even when he doesn’t have to. William made an appearance at an event for the Magna Carta last week, and some critics wonder why he took a Queen’s Flight helicopter for what would have been a relatively easy drive. Express also noted that William traveled exclusively by helicopter that whole day – he flew to Windsor from Highgrove, then took the helicopter to Berkshire, then back to Highgrove. One source said: “It does seem extravagant to use a helicopter when he could have just left half an hour earlier and still got there on time.”

Speaking of the Cambridges at Highgrove. It is believed that the Cambridges stayed with Prince Charles at his country home for the first time in… well, years. Following months of speculation that the Middletons had basically cut Charles out of his grandkids’ lives, Will and Kate made a point to bring George and Charlotte to Highgrove for a stay. And Charles made sure that the press knows that he and George “planted trees” together at Highgrove. One of the trees was a Winter Orange Lime.

Michelle Obama gave gifts to the Cambridges. FLOTUS was in England last week to launch an initiative, and Prince Harry invited her to have tea. Michelle brought gifts for Harry’s niece and nephew – George got a red wagon (the Berlin Flyer P-Wee Wagon) and Charlotte for an toddler-sized Amish-made rocking chair and a personalized Alpaca baby blanket. Great gifts!

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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115 Responses to “Prince William criticized for using royal helicopters to travel everywhere”

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  1. U says:

    C’mon Brits please make a hilarious pun we Americans won’t understand

    • aims says:

      Lmao!!!

    • Robin says:

      Brilliant!

    • LadyoftheLoch says:

      Why use a helicopter when he has a perfectly good drone?

      (OK, that was lame, LOL. Been across the pond for too long.)

    • bluhare says:

      I love to Peruse baby blankets but am allamad at the prices.

      • bluhare says:

        I blew it!!

        I love to Peruse baby blankets but am allamad the prices!

      • LadyoftheLoch says:

        All kinds of *crickets* for our efforts there, bluhare 🙂

        Having just read the Rachel Weitz thread, I have to say that American humour can be just as dry and snarkily delicious as the British. Not so many puns though, and I do miss the puns and double entendres.

      • bluhare says:

        I know, LadyoftheLoch! I really worked hard on mine too. Wasted a few seconds of my life on it. 😉

      • Maria A. says:

        Part of the problem is that unless the Yanks here have been to the UK and know what you’re referencing they aren’t going to get the joke. I’ve been there more than once and have no idea what you’re referencing. Ah well… Now, Monty Python – them I got!

      • LadyoftheLoch says:

        Going out on a limb here Maria, but bluhare’s pun was devilishly clever, and mine was definitely less so, and more double/triple entendre than pun.

        Michelle Obama gave baby Charlotte an alpaca (llama relative) blanket, and llamas hail from Peru amongst other places. Hence bluhare’s “I love to Peru(se) baby blankets, but I’m (a)llama(d) at the prices.” Quite brilliant.

        Mine was a bit more lowbrow, lol. Besides being a stingless male bee, there’s:
        Drone = boring monotonous voice (William’s public speaking voice).
        Also: Drone = unmanned aircraft. A perfect vehicle for William, since he’d probably rather not be going anywhere on an official royal visit.
        And: Drone = A person who follows directions slavishly, to the letter, without questioning anything. e.g. Kate?

  2. Allie says:

    I don’t care about anything besides how cute George is in these pics.

    • Obsidian says:

      Ditto!

    • inthekitchen says:

      That’s exactly what they are hoping for! Don’t notice us being extravagant and work-shy…just pay attention to the shiny new baby we’ll dangle in front of you from time to time.

      • Olenna says:

        ITA.

      • bluhare says:

        The Daily Beast just did an article last week on this very thing. Dangle George in front of us and we won’t notice how much money the Queen is getting this year.

    • A says:

      He looks like any other kid. I don’t get it? Most toddlers are cute, it’s the “cute age” after all.

      • Tough Cookie says:

        Exactly my thought, A!!

      • lisa says:

        i agree most babies look alike and i never think babies are cute. but i do find george amusing in a grumpy cat kind of way.

      • perplexed says:

        I think it’s George’s facial expressions that are captivating. He has cute mannerisms. William doesn’t look nearly as interesting in old photos of him as a child, even though he kind of looked the same as George (i.e blond hair, chubby cheeks, etc). Maybe the new digital cameras make it easier to capture every single funny expression a baby makes though. Some of George’s expressions are quite hilarious, especially when he’s looking at someone like they’re a weirdo who deserves to be banished.

      • melissa says:

        Agreed. I don’t find him especially adorable. The Middleton eyebrows give the poor boy a mean look.

  3. candice says:

    Taking time away from their schedules….?? Excuse me?? There are a lot of people would kill – or come pretty close – to get a “royal” seat at Wimbledon. I guess any time away from her dieting, exercise and self-care is work for Kate.

    • Delta Juliet says:

      I’m always amused that what would be a dream-worthy vacation for me is considered work for them. What a strange world.

    • seesittellsit says:

      Really! She has a busy schedule?! She’s on a lengthy maternity leave, puttering around her enormous country home. What busy schedule?

      As for the rest – what a shock: rich privileged royals behaving like rich privileged royals. Who’d a thunk it?

      • Viva says:

        lengthy maternity leave? I get 12 months leave pr. child. Long maternity leaves are the norm in Europe.

      • FLORC says:

        Viva
        I think the part is leave from what? This is her normal routine. History doesn’t support what the article claims.

      • Viva says:

        True

      • m says:

        Viva- you probably work full time too. Kate doesn’t work 40 hours in two years much less in a week. She has people to do everything else for her from taking care of the kids to grocery shopping to cleaning. I think she can afford to set aside two hours a week for “work”.

      • goofpuff says:

        she hasn’t worked 40 hours in any job she’s ever had, other than the landing wills job

    • Betti says:

      Who wants to take bets on their ‘private’ visits to Wimbledon to watch the championships appear in the Court Circular as official duties.

      I’ll start – £50 to say it does.

      • notasugarhere says:

        I’m hoping Edward and Sophie get this patronage when the Duke of Kent retires. They’ve worked for it and they met at a charity tennis match. A much better fit.

      • Betti says:

        @notasugarhere – so true, I would love to see them get some of these types of patronages, they work hard. Sadly i don’t think it will happen as am sure Waity will jump all over that – it’ll be one of those rare patronages that she WILL do work for.

      • notasugarhere says:

        She won’t do the work. She’ll think all it entails is showing up, making faces, and making catty remarks to her sister about other women’s figures during matches. The work of the patronage will be left undone.

  4. Size Does Matter says:

    I have this mental image of William hopping in the helicopter to go pick up a gallon of milk.

    • Penguen says:

      “He said he was going out for cigarettes, got in his helicopter, and I never saw him again.”

      • Olenna says:

        Ha!

      • Loopy says:

        LoL, didn’t he used to go visit Kate with his RAF helicopter before they were even engaged? He has zero regard for any criticism.

      • LAK says:

        Why should he? He is rarely criticised directly. That heli stunt to Kate’s garden being a prime example. That didn’t stop him pulling more heli stunts.

      • *North*Star* says:

        Those stunts were for training purposes! DUH people. You know he couldn’t train any other way…

        (And to make matters worse — he got permission for those stunts too!)

      • LAK says:

        Permission was given retrospectively…..when the RAF had to explain it to the media and the public. Also downplayed the RAF officers who were carpeted instead of William.

      • FLORC says:

        That superiors had to make a very scrambled and last minute excuse for his actions must have left them very frustrated.
        And with no consequence why should he feel his actions were wrong. That’s unfortunate, but true.

      • *North*Star* says:

        In order to take a airplane/helicopter you need to submit a flight plan and airports would haven notified of it flying in their airspace. The RAF would have totally known what William was going to do with that helicopter. So I don’t buy that they claimed to not have known (reports differed on this).

      • LAK says:

        North star: i’m not disagreeing that he had to file flight plans, no one is accusing him of stealing the heli, BUT the fact remains that there was an almighty public row after these stunts made the papers, together with the RAF officers who had prior knowledge being carpeted by RAF brass, which demonstrated the dim view the RAF took of these stunts.

        After the media pointed out the extra costs of these stunts and what he had used the helis for, THEN the RAF backtracked and renamed them ‘training exercises’ whilst downplaying their earlier censure. The interesting thing about the RAF back tracking is that they never said other officers were involved in these training exercises nor did they publicly take back the censure of the RAF officers with prior knowledge of William’s ‘training exercises’.

      • *North*Star* says:

        Except, Will needed another pilot with him and had it. He wasn’t flying solo and any flying time, whatever you call it, would have needed several approvals before proceeding.

        Personally, I think the RAF didn’t give two hoots about his “training exercises” until the public caught wind of them. That brouhaha caught them foolishly with their pants down and scrambled to blame someone and William was it (better to blame a well loved Royal than admit to such a clusterf*ck with tax payer funds/equipment).

      • LAK says:

        He didn’t have co-pilots. Their names would have come up considering what a mess those stunts were and the number of times these stunts were made public.

        Further, considering the public beating the RAF took over this from MPs and the media, and how sensitive the royals are (were) to public’s knowledge of their use of taxpayer money, do you really think they would have willingly thrown William under the bus to cover some no-name, no royal status person? To have William’s good reputation dragged through the mud?! It’s one of the few times the british press had the balls to print what was really going on with William and even then, managed to blame it all on the RAF who had to explain themselves to everybody.

        It’s not as if the royals don’t have form regarding the use of media scapegoats where William and Harry are concerned – see Guy Pelly being scapegoated for their drugs use.

      • bluhare says:

        To further LAK’s point, see the link below. He may have got permission ahead of time, but if you think that flying a helicopter to a stag party — including picking up Harry — is a legitimate training exercise I’ve got a bridge to sell you. This is WIlliam we’re talking about. The one everyone says gets kid glove treatment in the press while his brother is thrown to the wolves. Given that it is not difficult to piece together that William at the very least took advantage of his position to get the joy ride in the link to happen, I’d be very interested to hear how many other pilots in training get to fly to stag dos — and pick up people on the way — as part of a “legitimate training exercise”.

        http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/prince-william-in-kerfuffle-over-copter-ride-to-stag-1.732200

      • *North*Star* says:

        Again, I see it as a cover-up from the RAF as William hadn’t been approved to fly solo yet. Pilots go through a long mentoring process after they get their wings before being able to fly solo. That’s often left out of the reports. Plus, that helo was pretty big, again, bigger aircraft usually comes with co-pilots as a back-up.

        Yes, throwing William under the bus was the lesser of two evils here. And it wasn’t William vs one or two RAF personnel — it was William vs the RAF. The RAF, as a whole, needed to come out on top and approving a joy ride would not look good under any light.

        Honestly I don’t trust a lot of governmental reports and there’s too many unanswered questions in this scenario. In my opinion, William wanted to go on a joy ride and the RAF approved of it. Both got caught.

      • *North*Star* says:

        I have no doubt that this was a stunt ride and not training. I simply don’t buy that the RAF wasn’t informed and didn’t approve — they were up to their ears on this and tried to pretend otherwise.

      • bluhare says:

        Actually, William did not go through a long mentoring process. He had minimal training (admitted by RAF) to get him to do what he needed to be able to do. I should go find the link on that. It may have something to do with the increasingly long training he’s having now.

      • *North*Star* says:

        But bluhare you’ve just proven my point and probably didn’t realise it. William was a co-pilot for the RAF — part of that mentoring process is on the job. He didn’t fly solo for the RAF either.

        As for his new job, he’ll need to totally recertify as its a new aircraft and civilian. And my guess is his wings had expired too so he’d have more to recert on.

      • bluhare says:

        I have said that William took advantage of the RAF; I said he *may* have got permission ahead of time, but my personal belief is that he did not and the RAF scrambled once William’s use of the helicopters for personal escapades was made public. You can choose to disagree with that if you wish.

        I also said he did not receive standard training that most RAF pilots receive, contrary to your statement about pilots’ long mentoring programs. He received the Cliff Notes training, and that is not in dispute.

        PS Are you sure you aren’t from Minnesota and love flowers?

      • LAK says:

        Whether or not you believe govt reports, the RAF have admitted that training William was first of all a PR exercise for their service.

        Secondly, whilst his training was merely the cliff notes version (copyright bluhare), they went into detail which helicopters he would receive proper training on.

        As we’ve seen time and again, when it comes to scapegoating, especially where William (the heir no less) is concerned, the royals aren’t shy about doing it. Heck they do it to each other therefore if scapegoats were needed, scapegoats would have been found.

        The RAF*did* censure the other RAF officers involved in this kerfuffle, except for William.

        And their PR explanation after he was caught doing this was always the same….’training exercise’…Which in itself is a BS excuse considering they were giving him cliffnotes’ version of training.

        As for the training, even if he needed to re-certify, his much touted RAF training should have seen him exempt from a few modules, that is if he had received the proper training rather than the cliff notes version. Not to mention the PR exercise of having him at RAF Valley allegedly working hard at being a SAR pilot.

        They are being deliberately obtuse with his current training program because as far as the public is concerned he was properly trained as a full RAF pilot.

  5. EmasMum says:

    Everytime I see a mother with such very small baby at home, my first thought is to wonder if it is so necessary to be apart in the first weeks for events like this. And not to mention breastfeeding. Having hard times believing she pumped the milk to cover for her absence. And it makes me sad.

    • candice says:

      In Kate’s case, she probably spends more time away from the baby shopping and doing her 2 1/2 hour exercise routine each day v.s. attending any royal event. Just sayin’. 🙂

    • FLORC says:

      What Kate is doing so far is what she wants to do. At most she’s been away, but still near to her child for a few hours.
      And as far as feeding that’s assumed. If she left she likely supplied enough to cover an hour or 2. Plus she has access to the top in their fields.
      My heart goes out to those mothers who have to leave their infants and get very little time at all to be with them because they must return to work. Trooping aside if she left her infant with the highly skilled nanny it’s because she wanted to. Not because she had to.

      • Loopy says:

        Kate my be shy of royal work, but I don’t think she is an absentee mother. Maybe she takes time every week to indulge herself who wouldn’t. But babies can’t fake the funk it’s obvious George is very close to her and she is hands on.

      • FLORC says:

        Loopy
        Not trying to say she’s an absent mother. Just that she isn’t pulled away from her child. Hearts should break for those mothers who are.
        And agree. George is very close with his mother. Also with the nanny. I think he’s a very comfortable and loved child.

    • notasugarhere says:

      She willingly spent hours away from the baby to run around getting good PR photo shots at polo. That was voluntary, she wasn’t required to be at polo, but getting the public shots of PGTips out there staved off more criticism. She chose to be away from the baby.

      • pumbi says:

        If she is spending some time far from her baby to get some good PR and playing with her son , I say fine. Much better than spending just crazy amount of time and money to get back in size xs just within couple of weeks giving birth. That is what sad. But obviously shows what this woman priorities are.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Working for her patronages would go a long way towards improving her PR. And it wouldn’t look like they were exploiting their child to improve their lousy public image.

  6. FLORC says:

    A few things…
    Since William wasn’t using his personal leased helicopter and using the queens the total cost will be available, correct? Or did the lease expire?

    And will these flying trips count towards his new job? That should be done already.

    • LAK says:

      I doubt the line by line flight costs will be made available. Instead we shall have an overall increase in the cost of the Queen’s flight, and no one will explain why.

      That said, William’s preferred mode of transport seems to be heli. Do you remember when they (WK + Lupo) were accidentally papped by random unsuspecting public and the resulting row in which it was revealed that they regularly took the heli hospitality of the gentleman piloting the heli?

      The row was about the ‘gift’ of the trips which royals aren’t supposed to take, but what was lost in the discussion was that little factoid.

      • FLORC says:

        LAK
        I do remember that shot of the 3 of them going to that gifted heli ride.
        The take away being they use the helicopter frequently and accept gifts.
        As I recall that was found to be the day they left the helicopter and took seperate cars without talking. Kate to her parents and William elsewhere.

        And all because this person took random shots and later skimmed through his memory card.

      • LAK says:

        Florc: I stand corrected. They release information on the international tours.

  7. Green Is Good says:

    It’s good to be the (future) King.

  8. Natalie says:

    They’re just trying to be normal traveling by helicopter while Kate makes the budget work by wearing her clothes more than once. Why must we criticize them so!

    Did I get the PR jumble right?

    • Elly says:

      🙂
      sadly from now on Kate not even needs to “recycle” anymore. These two simpletons will get away with everything as long as they show off the kids everytime they get bad press.

      • wendi says:

        Yes and they will continue to do so as long as it works. Even on this site, it doesn’t take much for them to win people over at the drop of a hat (or a fancy outfit). The bar is set so low….

  9. hmmm says:

    The gilded loser seems to spend a lot of time away from his ‘job’. Does he actually have one or is it just a cover? Why are there no further reports about his progress? Must be the longest training period in history.

    • Beth No. 2 says:

      “gilded loser”

      Ha! 😉

    • ickythump says:

      Gad, never mind the heli-training – he was born royal and is now 33 and still cant seem to grasp he should be giving something back to the country who helps keep him in the style he (and his wife) are accustomed to…

    • snapdragon says:

      Gilded loser — love it!!

    • Beth No. 2 says:

      Love the part in the video when Harry knelt down in front of the parents and started playing with the boy. No airs at all.

      Much love to the boys’ parents, and RIP little one. 🙁

    • wow says:

      I feel that if Harry were heir to the throne, he would not be the Harry that we see today.

      Didn’t The Queen give Will and Kate the helicopter or use;of that helicopter? Well, he’s using it. *shrugs* I bet that if he didn’t use the helicopter to reach his events on time and drove instead and had car trouble which could have made him late or have to cancel all together, there would still be some who would complain “There’s no excuse for him to be late or not show! Why couldn’t he have used the helicopter and fly himself there. So lazy! Any excuse to get out of work! Tsk! Tsk!”

      Now granted, some criticism for him is warranted, but this? He’s a royal. Helicopter escort are part of the many perks at his disposal. At least he’s “working” putting in his royal quota, right?

      • notasugarhere says:

        A second helicopter lease was added to the royal flight — for travel to and from official engagements. NOT for him to fly to spy headquarters for a private visit, not for him to fly to polo. For official engagements only, and only when a helicopter is needed due to distance traveled. If he had driven, he would have had to leave 30 minutes earlier, so even if it was official business he shouldn’t have used a copter.

      • bluhare says:

        Heavens, wow! I’ve been informed in no uncertain terms by WK supporters that the helicopter was leased for everyone, not just them! They only get to use it sometimes. I need an eyeroll emoji here!

    • Anne says:

      I think William should just step down. He hates the media, resents public life and seems to want as few royal duties as possible.

      • wendi says:

        Yeah but he loves the perks and privileges too much to give it up. On the other hand, he has millions at his disposal – primarily inheritance dough – so he could walk away and live quite comfortably couldn’t he?

      • notasugarhere says:

        Wendi, his inheritance would never cover their costs for more than a few years. A house like Anmer would cost the majority of his inheritance to purchase.

      • wendi says:

        Maybe not the same degree of wealth and luxury, but he does have in the tens of millions, doesn’t he? How greedy is he?

        edit: I would expect him to weigh the pros and cons re: the change to his “quality of life” if he bid adios to the royals. still wealthy and comfortable but no royal obligations, press scrutiny, etc.

      • notasugarhere says:

        As of 2012, the age he was able to access it, his share was estimated at £10million.

  10. Lady D says:

    That was seriously funny. I’m so borrowing gilded loser.
    edit: this was in response to hmmm’s comment

  11. chaine says:

    so is he at least flying the helicopter to all of these places by himself, given that he is a helicopter pilot? if so, i might give him half a pass… also, flying back and forth to presumably spend more time with his new baby is a nice spin on the term helicopter parent.

    • notasugarhere says:

      He’s not a pilot, he’s training as a copilot. He’s only allowed to use the helicopters in the royal fleet IF he’s going to and from official engagements. And then only if it would be a significant amount of time more to dry. In this case, he could have left 30 minutes earlier so no helicopter should be used.

      • FLORC says:

        Nota
        It’s occured to me the prep time involved for pretake off. The checks and warm ups. In short, William would have had to give notice of his intent to use that transportation method at the same time he was still capable of taking a car.
        This imo was likely not for time reasons.

      • maggie says:

        He’s a pilot!

      • notasugarhere says:

        He is a co-pilot and will be for some time. Right now he is still in training to be a co-pilot. After he works as that for awhile, he will do more training to become a pilot. He hasn’t started working as a co-pilot yet, he’s still training. That’s why he pressure the government into donating the larger helo to EAAA, so there would be a co-pilot seat and room for RPO.

        Clarence House press release, August 7 2014

        “His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge is to become a helicopter pilot with East Anglian Air Ambulance.

        After completing a mandatory period of training this autumn and winter, The Duke will start work with the Air Ambulance, based at Cambridge and Norwich Airports and flying both day and night shifts, in spring 2015. The Duke will start as a co-pilot but, after a period of training, will be qualified to fly as a helicopter commander…”

      • Citresse says:

        Wouldn’t everyone rather see Harry at the controls anyway. We all knew it on the ski slopes ie Harry had/has the moves.

  12. anne_000 says:

    Anybody remember that £ 8,000 heli ride he took to the UK’s version of the NSA? First they said it was a private trip. Then when the issue of paying the bill came up, they said it was a public/official ride to be paid by the taxpayers.

    Iirc, the DM also mentioned the heli ride he took to pick up Harry and fly them out to the Isle of Man for a bachelor’s party.
    ………..

    What’s too many royal patronages? Don’t the older BRF members have hundreds? Including Diana when she was alive? What do W&K have? Less than a dozen put together?

    • FLORC says:

      Anne
      I do remember the heli trip. That was a scramble too.

      The bachelor pick up was mentioned above.

      And I think the royal patronages was more of this… Too many of the same kind. That they could easily have found themselves only patrons of tennis foundations.
      Not too many overall because let’s face it. If they think they’re 1 or 2 away from too many how we define that is vastly different.

  13. Betti says:

    I’m really not surprised by things like this anymore – he’s lazy and entitled. He pulls these stunts cause he gets away with it – he’s just a sad little boy showing off at playing helicopter pilot. He’s using the Queen heli as he’s knows he doesn’t have to justify it – even the rest of the family don’t use it unless they have to.

    • Anne says:

      I’m not surprised either, but I wonder if he is really getting away with it. Public support for the monarchy under Queen Elizabeth is strong enough, but I can’t help but think it will be challenged fundamentally after her passing. She, like the role she holds, is from another time. I may be wrong, but I expect Charles, and later WIlliam, will have a very difficult time keeping the institution relevant and resilient when they lose a figurehead with such great stature. Tabloid scrutiny has hurt Charles badly. It has hurt Camilla, too. When I see those photographs of George on the balcony, I can’t help but wonder how it will all play out. I wonder if his future is as certain as it seems.

      • LAK says:

        I think Charles is genuinely has the foresight to look to his future hence the proper PR hires and attempts to rehab Camilla and his image.

        I don’t think William thinks that far ahead. Or he thinks the mantle of Diana will get him through it. It’s working so far, so who knows…..

  14. Nymeria says:

    I’m pissed off that taxpayer money bought these assholes gifts.

    • Janis says:

      Me too, Nymeria. His ridiculous, entitled behavior is a proverbial F* You to the British public that pay his bills in return for him working for them and earning his keep. Instead here is a 33 year old man-child stomping his feet at the press and living the life of Riley and not doing what is expected of him. I can almost see him pouting to his dad and Gramma when he doesn’t get what he wants. If I were a British taxpayer, I would be livid at his what amounts to abuses of power/position just because he knows he can get away with it. Why aren’t the Brits revolting?
      The Cambridges are disgusting leeches and yes, the Queen and the Prince of Wales have a lot to answer for by enabling the Doolittles. They’re laughing at the taxpaying public!

      • maggie says:

        Why aren’t the Brits revolting?? Because we love the royals. And despite what most say on here they actually are very good for Britain. They employ many people, they are goodwill ambassadors, create tourism and charity. They also pay their way and that includes William.

      • notasugarhere says:

        They do not contribute to tourism. That has been debunked many times. The BRF also stick to the Home Counties, because outside of those, they are not well-like and are nowhere near loved.

        William does not pay his way, and all costs for their family are paid by Charles and the Duchy which does NOT belong to the royal family. William is a known cheapskate. He doesn’t even buy his wife’s jewelry, she buys it herself with Duchy money.

      • Jib says:

        Maggie, they may employ many people, but do so at a ridiculously low wage!! Haven’t you seen their employees up in arms over their wages?? It’s your country, I would think you’d be aware of their taking advantage of those who take care of them.

      • bluhare says:

        They get money from the govt every year. They also don’t pay for their security. But perhaps they do as well as they do because they don’t pay their staff much.

        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/11503795/Queens-staff-could-strike-for-the-first-time-as-Windsor-Castle-workers-vote-on-action-over-appalling-low-pay.html

    • notasugarhere says:

      Nymeria, if you are upset that US tax dollars may have paid for the gifts, you should complain to the White House. If they were not personal gifts out of the Obama’s own money, someone at the WH should be required to tell you that.

  15. Citresse says:

    Why didn’t he just gas up his favourite black motorcycle? Or better yet, set an example and use an e-bike to get there if it was such a short distance? But then, I wouldn’t really believe Charles is so eco- conscious either since he likes to fly around in a luxury jet (with every state of the art fixture you can imagine) much of the time. Like father, like son.
    If true, Diana is rolling over in her grave right about now.

    • FLORC says:

      Diana loved her luxuries and wasn’t too ecoaware. No spinning would happen for that.

      • Citresse says:

        No, I was thinking of William in terms of frequent absences from Kate (if true). We see him now on the polo field just like dad 30 yrs ago. History repeats itself if Kate goes home alone wondering when/if she’ll have quality time with William again any time soon? If she does indeed wonder such, then I find that very sad because no amount of money can fix that kind of sadness.

      • notasugarhere says:

        This is how he treated her for a decade, as an afterthought and convenience when it suited him. If she expected marriage to change him, she’s even less intelligent than many think.

      • FLORC says:

        Citresse
        There’s a very long and well documented history as it unfolded. You can find much of it in the archives here.
        William was found in various places while Kate was known to be waiting by the phone for him. Should he call she dropped everything and maybe they would spend time together. William’s bday, falklands, cottage are all occasions where William stayed and Kate was seen leaving with bags in hand to go to her parents for weeks if not months.
        IMO I suspect Kate has become use to this lifestyle. She enjoys William’s affection, but is very comfortable with her parents and without her husband. Add in keeping yourself busy with self imposed duties (shopping/beauty maintenance) and you can pretend you’re too busy to notice these things. You Regress.

        I think there are many parallels between Kate/William Diana/Charles. Only Kate was more aware of the deal and Diana was not. As a result Kate is complacent and Diana needed an outlet to cope.
        Charles and William? I think both were raised as golden heirs. Charles though found a passion in sustainable farms. And he adapted to the press. William has been cared for and when the press doesn’t bow down he threatens them directly. Nothing subtle. And he appears to not want to learn the balance his father or brother have.
        To add, I think it’s understood the men are approved of having affairs. And wives are to stay quiet about it. Diana was selective in Charles and his mistresses. Accepting some and outing others. I think Kate would out all who dared with William.

  16. msthang says:

    Diana, lived high on the hog herself, but at least she worked for it !

    • Citresse says:

      Yes, she certainly did. She worked hard and really cared. As an example of that, she wrote letters on holidays etc when most people would be away at a party etc,……. Diana had no shortage of party invitations. She chose to be at her desk writing letters.

  17. Altariel says:

    Funny how the Queen’s hat blocks out Kate’s face and all you see is her flying saucer hat. Maybe the pic was just meant to be of just the Queen and the next three kings, which is pretty cool. Kate can’t win sometimes, lol.

  18. msthang says:

    Citresse,Quality time for Willliam is sex and booze is it not?

    • Citresse says:

      I guess it’s booze for sure when he’s at Highgrove raiding his father’s stash. Diana did the same bringing orange vodka to to the cad’s mother aka Shirley Hewitt.

  19. msthang says:

    Citresse, Okay may-be some polo!

  20. Caz says:

    Who would have thought Harry would turn out to be the more likeable, more endearing Royal than Wombat? William has really messed up.

  21. Deedee says:

    And just when WillNot is getting chastised for taking helicopters when he shouldn’t, a photo appears of little George with the nanny, waving goodbye to his Uncle Harry (not in the pic) who is using the helicopter for official business. Hmm, surely this isn’t to deflect attention from the heir to the spare? Throwing Harry under the helo blades to save the future king’s rep? Even at the expense of showing George holding the hand of the nanny?

  22. Allie May says:

    Whatever happened to shoe leather express? Make his overprivileged ass walk!