The Windsors all love to travel by private helicopter. It’s not just the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, although it often feels like they travel almost exclusively by helicopter. Prince Charles flies on private planes and helicopters constantly, and the Queen hasn’t traveled by train in several years. It’s a bad look for all of them, especially supposed “environmentalists” like Charles and William. You would think that the Queen would have understood the terrible optics years ago and ordered her heirs to stop using the helicopters so much. But apparently she’s fine with the optics. The thing that worries her is the idea that William’s helicopter could go down. According to the Sun, the Queen has “urged” William to stop flying so much:
The Queen has urged Prince William to stop flying in helicopters with wife Kate and their children amid safety fears. Her Majesty is said to be “terrified” disaster could strike – threatening the succession. A source close to the 95-year-old monarch revealed she raised concerns with the future king, saying she is “terrified” disaster could strike.
An unwritten rule stops senior royals from flying together. But the protocol has been relaxed as William’s family grew and began to split their time between London and Norfolk. A change in the line of succession could elevate Prince Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, to the throne — after the pair quit royal duty for life in California. The Queen had several conversations with William who has previously flown his family the 115 miles from Kensington Palace to their home at Anmer Hall, Norfolk.
A source close to the Queen — who lost Prince Philip at age 99 in April — said: “Her Majesty has told close friends and courtiers that she would like William to stop flying himself, particularly in bad weather, as helicopters are not the safest form of transport. It keeps the Queen awake at night and she is understandably very worried. She knows William is a capable pilot but does not think it is worth the risk for all five of them to carry on flying together and can’t imagine what would happen. It would spark a constitutional crisis.”
“The Queen has told William she is worried that, however good he is as a pilot, bad weather and accidents can strike at any time. The Queen is delighted in the way William and Kate have risen to the challenge in recent years and knows the monarchy is safe in their hands. She thinks the future is bright with them at the helm after Charles but if something happened to him and the family it doesn’t bear thinking about.”
Mobile phone footage shot in May shows Wills walking hand-in-hand with his three children and wife to a helicopter at Kensington Palace. They often fly together in a chopper crewed by a team and a pilot. But William — who was loaned a Bell 429 GlobalRanger aircraft in April — is also known to get behind the controls when family members are on board.
The Sun also has an accounting of how much these royal flights cost – around $2.8 million a year – and how William and Kate have their own helicopter for their own use. What I didn’t know is that in the past decade, there have been a number of close-calls with other royals, including the Countess of Wessex, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Queen herself. Inclement weather, technical malfunctions and diverted helicopters, there are a bunch of stories like that. I honestly didn’t know that William sometimes pilots his helicopter with his family in the back? That’s dangerous as hell and I would not trust him as a pilot whatsoever. But yeah, I doubt any of them are going to change anything. They didn’t change anything when the optics look bad, why would they stop because the line of succession is on the line? There’s also a lot of hand-wringing about “what happens if Harry and Meghan are the new heirs”… like, Salt Island should be so lucky.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Sorry. Duplicate comment.
I think they’re setting the stage for the Keens to get a second helicopter. They clearly don’t live together and don’t want people getting suspicious.
Good point. It would be a built-in excuse when William doesn’t accompany his family to places (they split them up to be “safe”!)
This is a really solid theory.
@Aurora BINGO
“You have to understand, William. Your uncle Andrew needs as many getaway options as possible! “
This line was also in the Sun article: “Kate and Wills are rumoured to be looking for a home in Windsor to be nearer the Queen and schools for the children — therefore avoiding the need to fly by helicopter.”
They are pulling out the big gun propaganda excuses for the move to Windsor. It has nothing to do with setting Kate up in a separate home near CarolE, but everything to do with saving the poor old Queen from enduring sleepless nights fraught with worry over the helicopter crashing and King Harry and Queen Meghan becoming a reality. Burger King is again using his brother to cover up his messy personal life. When the move is officially announced, the British public is meant to breathe a sigh of relief that Burger King has saved them from Harry’s reign.
But wouldn’t they still have to travel to get to “work” engagements?
I’m sure Will and Kate will continue to use the chopper for their intermittent work needs. The point of this article is that they take the copter with the whole family to get between KP and Norfolk. They want to scare the public into accepting the new Windsor-based home for Kate.
If this article is true (and I don’t think it is, but for the sake of argument), it doesn’t say the queen wants them to stop flying in helicopters. It says the queen wants William to stop flying HIMSELF. She doesn’t trust his piloting skills!
Um, that’s hilariously stupid because they’re not taking the helicopter from London or Norfolk to Windsor, lol.
ETA I want to add that while I think the reasoning is hilariously stupid lol, it IS interesting that the “third house in Windsor” is still out there as a story. We’ve heard it mentioned enough now, by so many different sources, that it really does feel like its happening.
@Becks1 I does seem to be happening but now they have to justify the expense. I guess saving money by not using the chopper is the new excuse. I don’t see how that will help because it’s just reminding the peasants that they waste millions on flying AND they’re getting a new home. But maybe that was the point in this article and this is some classic chain yanking because this does not make the Keens look good.
If she is this concerned about it she could simply take the decision out of William’s hands and ordered the heirs not to fly together. She is the QUEEN you know and could have done this quietly without bringing the Sussex family into it and giving the racist crazies one more chance to attack that family. Read the Daily Mail comments. Oh the horror of having a bi racial Queen. Only William and his family stand between the apocalypse.
@ Lee, excellent point!!! She is TQ after all. She could certainly restrict Baldingham from flying, period.
I agree with everyone that has posted that the Sun is pitching these stories to justify the expense of another castle near Windsor for these useless twits!
The Sun is certainly twisting themselves into creating utter garbage to justify the unnecessary expense on another castle with millions of pounds spent by the Lambridges. All to ease the TQ from constant fear and sleepless nights, with the constitutional crises that would arise. But they must make certain to include Harry and Meghan purely out of need to generate clicks.
I don’t think that the royal rats are capable of spewing this garbage UNLESS Harry and Meghan are mentioned. Otherwise, no one on Salty Island would look twice.
I’m tryin gto figure out the true objective of the Sun publishing this story. Is it just to inject Harry and Meghan into a story because they have no information about them? Is the Sun yanking William’s chain in a roundabout way? In that instead of outright criticising him for too many helicopter flights, the Sun manufactured a story about the Queen being concerned about the safety of these frequent flights. I don’t believe that William flies these helicopters, this is the Sun trying to portray him as an “action man”. Maybe that’s the true reason for this story. The press used to publish a lot of “action man” stories about Charles when he was younger too.
Definitely about letting us know he is a hypocrite who flies that helicopter way too much, and also I think it’s keeping the third house in Windsor story out there.
Yes, what is the true objective? What makes them think that the Sussexes would want to come back? People writing comments about this story in DM and ToL sound like jilted lovers. As usual they are being hoodwinked and manipulated. This is nothing but another crafty anti Sussex click bait article in disguise.
Who are this people in the Palace leaking information all the time? This story is designed largely to bring the Sussexes into focus in order to further disparage them. The Sussexes should be left out of this. Instead the anti Sussex brigade should contemplate the real possibility of the Crown being passed to Andrew, the Sussexes are building their life away from the self seeking palace courtiers and their crafty chess playing antics which keep backfiring.
This feels like an underhanded way to point out how often the Cambridges use helicopters, all of them, and not just for work (because there would be no reason for the kids to take one then, since they aren’t working…..), and to mention that they were “loaned” a second on this past spring and to cover it all up with the Queen being “concerned for their safety” so that makes it a story. But it feels like the point is the helicopter use itself.
Second helicopter for second, separate household?
This. For his frequent trips to visit whomever he wants away from his wife.
Yes, especially with the accounting of the costs, this feels like the press swiping at the Cambridges for their helicopter use. After all, if the queen is so “terrified” of the safety issues, then why have we had several stories about her using helicopters recently?
Also, I think it’s funny that she’s scared about a “constitutional crisis” in one paragraph but then she “knows the monarchy is safe in their hands” in another. I don’t think this has anything to do with the Queen, really, but I think some folks do see a crisis on the horizon.
It seems new info to mention that William got another helicopter in April. Also he’s not seen flying it himself when the rest of the family is with him. So he likely flys the helicopter on his own when he’s doing off the book visits.
Whose garden is he landing in now?
I understand also that he was observed flying Carole someplace in the helicopter.
Same. There was no need to mention how much the helicopters cost because it’s not really relevant to the whole “the queen is so worried angle” yet they did.
Yup, and I am calling royal BS on this supposed angle of TQ. She hasn’t given it a thought about them traveling together, not one.
But I agree that this was probably an underhanded comment shot at Baldingham and the excessive expenses that it costs the taxpayers.
I mean, if it worried her so much, it wouldn’t have taken until almost 2022 (and with her death impending) to make an issue out of it. She would have made it clear to William as soon as George was born.
This story definitely seems like total bs which was written only as another roundabout way to insult Harry and Meghan — and, most importantly, to scare the everloving SH!T out of the British people (only the racist ones) at the thought of Meghan ever being *anywhere* near the throne.
(And of course to get the clicks that only stories mentioning the Sussexes receive 🙄)
If anything were to really happen, I would love to see Harry abdicate on behalf of himself and his kids, passing the throne to Andrew instead. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…Andrew is exactly what the RF deserves.
I can’t believe they allow William to fly the helicopter himself with or without his family. It’s dangerous. As for the line of succession, they’d be so lucky to have Harry & Meghan as the next PoW couple. They’d represent the UK far better than the Cambridges. Saying all that, I can’t help but think this story is to counter any separation stories. If the Queen wasn’t concerned prior to Phillip’s death, why is it a concern now? Optics didn’t matter before? Doubt it.
Yeah, I agree, W flying his family around in a copter…. EEEK! Copters aren’t exactly the safest form of transport around, and people very rarely walk away from those accidents. I’m thinking of all sorts of small aircraft crashes: Kobe, JFK, Jr….
And H&M as PoW: OMG, I’d feel so sorry for them, that would suck them back into the vipers nest and H would declare war on the media AND the courtiers.
H as king? I flashback to the scene in The Crown S1 when Elizabeth had the utter audacity to want to pick her own personal assistant, and was firmly told NO because that Wasn’t How Things Were Done and that someone else was up for a promotion first. I cannot see H putting up with that kind of nonsense at all, and instead firing every single one of those media-leaking snakes.
Mr. Jaded was a helicopter pilot for years back in the late 70s to mid/late 80s. They are dangerously unstable and if you run into trouble you are as good as gone. He lost several colleagues who had thousands of hours in them, but you can’t fix a mechanical problem in mid-air no matter how skilled you are.
And from what I’ve read, Willnot only completed the first phase of his air ambulance helicopter training so I don’t think he’s a *fully* trained pilot yet. He always flew as second-in-command to a more senior pilot.
@Harper it never fails to astound me that the courtiers seemingly have so much more power than the actual royals. It’s so nonsensical that I truly can’t wrap my brain around it. The guy who said no to the Queen? Why wasn’t he summarily fired? She’s THE QUEEN for the love of god, and that person is an EMPLOYEE. I just don’t get it. At all.
I know regular people- former neighbors of ours-who would actually fly separately so if anything happened, their three young children wouldn’t be left parentless. It’s definitely excessive, but it’s insane that freaking peasants are often more cautious than the heirs to the throne ffs.
I thought Skeletor didn’t finish his pilot’s license …. a fool is going to fool. that’s all I have for this fool.
I thought so too, so he cannot fly without a real pilot also at the controls?
“She knows William is a capable pilot but does not think it is worth the risk for all five of them to carry on flying together and can’t imagine what would happen. It would spark a constitutional crisis.”
Her grandson and his entire family die in a tragic way, and she’s worried about constitutional crisis. I can believe it.
While it would be a tragedy, it would in no way be a constitutional crisis. They have a line of succession for this very reason. It’s how Ol’ Liz’s dad became king instead of his older brother.
If William and his line all die at once it might inspire a major PR crisis for the Royal Family when Harry abdicates, though. With everything that’s happened and the family and the institution the way they are I don’t see Harry willing to inflict things as they are on his own little family and I don’t see the others allowing any significant change to occur.
And if Harry and his line are also out of the picture then the UK is left with King Andrew, and I think THAT might be the constitutional crisis they’re thinking of. No way Andrew would ever step down, not even for his own daughter, so you’d have the Head of State with all of Andrew’s legal problems and heaven only knows who has what kompromat on him.
Lmao. She lays awake at night thinking about the constitutional crisis of such a traumatic event, not the potential loss of lives. Maybe it’s the possibility of a biracial queen that’s giving her sleeplessness or that they cut back her nightly gins.
This is easier to believe if you replace the queen with the Queen’s courtiers. They have been worried that Queen Consort Meghan could be a thing if William continues with his reckless and carbon-polluting habits.
I just think it’s odd that they mentioned King Harry in the first place. When was the last time that happened? And it’s not like it would be a huge crisis to the firm anyway because they all admit that William needs Harry for his reign in the first place. Why not cut out the middleman? Obviously I don’t want anything to happen to the Cambridge family, but The Sun brought it up and apparently William is putting his family in danger, but why mention Harry at all? Will the plebes be more accepting of the chopper trips and third home if only to keep Harry from the throne that he doesn’t even want and ran away from?
If he’s really flying his family around that’s…deranged?? Helicopter accidents happen. I’m sure he’s as a capable a pilot as he is at everything else. That is to say, not very. I’m also sure they could have access to the most experienced pilots in the world. That they don’t always use them strikes me as pure ego.
@JT, I laughed so hard at “why not cut out the middleman” used in this context 😂
Is William really flying the helicopters by himself though? I thought he only made it as far as a co-pilot, so even if he wanted to fly solo, he isn’t actually qualified to do so. The queen should have nipped the helicopter usage ages ago because it is wasteful and too expensive for people who can barely do 100 engagements a year. Mentioning H&M is just unnecessary, but the rags need their clicks. I think this story was just written so they could mention the Keen’s excessive chopper usage.
That’s what I thought, too! And if he did log enough hours to be licensed for the air ambulance, I would think that he would need to renew that license fairly regularly, right? I’m dubious. I think this is more of an attempt to respond to criticism about the expense of the royal private helicopter, and perhaps make it seem like them getting a third home in Windsor will be a cost savings.
And as an aside, if he has really been fully licensed during the pandemic, I feel like there would have been staged shots of him airlifting medical supplies or stories from patients that found out their pilot was the FFK – he’s just so normal!
He was only ever allowed to be a copilot when he was at the ambulance service and that’s why the queen paid for them to get a larger helicopter so there was room for him to be co pilot.
Perhaps for recreational purposes it doesn’t matter as much? Or he’s flouting the rules and no one cares? When they use it for royal engagements he’s not seen flying it so it’s likely he only does when he’s using it for unofficial purposes.
It just seems asinine to allow William to fly his family when he’s only a copilot and he maybe, probably can’t even see that well in the first place. Has maintenance his hours/license? He’s just asking for a situation to go down if this true, but this story doesn’t make him look good. Who the hell needs a second helicopter in a pandemic when you’re supposed to be low key?
William and his selfish antics were going to cost people their lives and jobs. The RPOs were being trained to be paramedics, because the smaller helo didn’t have room for both RPOs and paramedics. Since the RPOs would be there to protect William, the patients were going to be secondary concerns.
It was only after public outcry and complaints from the paramedics that suddently, *someone* donated money for EAAA to get a bigger helo. Not sure if it was QEII or if someone else was pressured to find the money in some royal account.
It bothered me when William was in that air ambulance work, the media would go on about well he’s donating his money to charity. There was never a charity mentioned nor any report of any donation. Also it was something like $60,000 a year and like pocket change to William and really no sacrifice. The Queen should have refused permission for William to take on this “work.”
He’s not a qualified pilot, he’s an under-trained part part part time co-pilot. This is more smoke being blown about how much money they spend on helos, the second helo, the time apart, separate households, third house in Berkshire/Windsor coming. Feels like The Sun is throwing a pacifier at William to soften the blow by *pretending* he’s doing any of the flying himself.
notasugarhere, I looked it up and here’s what I found. He passed the Air Transport Pilot’s License exam. After that he had a training period and had to pass additional tests. When they first reported this it was stated that the training would be a couple of months. It appears that it may have taken him five months. I’m surprised he actually got the necessary flying time. Didn’t he work very little?
Still smacks more of William embiggening with all the “good pilot” comments and, of course, a slap at H&M as being higher up if anything happened. An entire family dying would be a tragedy but a “constitutional crisis” is taking it a bit far. I am amazed they put the price tag bit in there though. If I were H, I would say my family is staying in the US, move on to Andrew. Once upon a time the RF were supposedly hiring a consultant to make their travel more environmentally sound. That went to the wayside like the diversity tsar.
It’s so incredibly telling and disgraceful that a large portion— not everyone, but a lot — of the British population would be more horrified at King Henry than they would be at King Andrew.
Yes, there are those who slam them but some may be outraged at Andrew getting free passes and Harry and Meghan taken to task. And then the most absurd part is bringing in comparisons to Wallis and Edward. Harry never abdicated and was never direct heir. I notice though the articles about Andrew are few and far between, even in the midst of the Ghislaine trial.
“The Queen is delighted in the way William and Kate have risen to the challenge in recent years and knows the monarchy is safe in their hands. She thinks the future is bright with them at the helm”
The Queen is a 95 years old woman who would have her rapist son working as a royal if she was still in charge and who owns a piano made of gold: her opinion does not mean shit.
+1
When she was ill this year, Keen and Peen went on vacay and snapped holiday card photos in Jordan.
This is considered rising to the occasion?
The Sun writes some odd fanfiction.
@ Haylie, yes, the Sun is always creating new stories to try and cover up the fact that Baldingham and his equally useless wife, are clearly NOT stepping in and rising to the occasion. It’s blatantly obvious to everyone within the royal family that the Lambridges are far from rising to the occasion given that TQ a had to take Baldingham back to Scotland to show him how to carry out a charm tour properly. Hell, Princess Anne has done more in one year than Baldingham and Mumblina together.
This family is a living testament of what fiction actually is.
William and Kate did not have any challenges except their wanting to work against Harry and Meghan. They just have the low work numbers and lots of vacations, the same pattern they practiced for years. The QUeen must have set the bar low if this is true.
The owner of Villa that the Lamebridges stay at in Mystique, is in Jeffery E’s little black book along with Charles Spencer and Viscount Linley.
The wheels on the bus are falling off.
I’m not surprised that Spencer is on that list because he is a turd.
There were a lot of names in his “little black book.” I’m not saying that the people you named aren’t potentially guilty, but it’s unlikely that all the people named are. It was just his address book. Don’t forget that Epstein was also in the business of blackmail. He would put people in compromising positions knowing that they would then have to protect him in order to protect themselves. This was one of the reasons he deliberately courted Prince Andrew. It was because he knew he’d be protected because Andrew is a member of the BRF. Andrew just happened to also be a horrible person too and went along with everything.
@Ainsley, Andrew is just SO STUPID. He’s a ton of other godawful qualities as well, but he’s dumber than a bag of hair to not have seen that Epstein was clearly targeting him, and to ask himself why.
Charles obviously also engaged in many of the same sleazy financial dealings that Andrew and Fergie did, but at least he was smart enough to do a better job of covering it up for a much longer time, and to set it up so that someone else took the fall for him — even though we all know he was completely aware of what was going on. (And as much as I dislike Charles, he’s never been accused of being a rapist.)
So the true purpose of this article is to send a message that it would be “just the worst thing EVER” if Harry was to be king instead of Prince Temper-Tantrum.
It’s a childish: “Granny likes me better” thing.
I dunno man. I kind of feel like the press would much rather have a King Harry and Queen Meghan than endure decades of the King and Queen of dullness. Honestly, Harry suddenly being in the next line to be King or a regent to George might be the only way to get him back on UK soil.
Chucky can be the regent to George. Or Randy Andy. The Sussexes are better off away from that toxic cesspool of vipers.
Charles wouldn’t be Regent to George, because both Charles and William would have to be dead for George to be monarch. Harry would be Regent, but with him out of the UK, it would fall to Andrew.
I thought he was a co-pilot too, actually l think he is and William has been wearing glasses since he was younger !!! Didn’t he almost lose his wings in Wales since he wasn’t flying regularly ??
What a waste…….
There was comment years ago, given how he slid sideways into helo training, that he got in on a technicality only because he was royal. With his eyesight, he would have been banned from flying otherwise.
It is pretty risky to be frequently flying the whole family. When I think about frequent helicopter use, I always think about Kobe. But rich people must never be inconvenienced.
I always think about JFK Jr. But it’s pretty well established that all of the other pilots at the same airport knew the weather was too poor to fly that night, and unfortunately he chose to anyway.
He also didn’t have his VFR night flying qualifications. If he had he would have been able to fly through the marine fog without losing his bearings. Stupid is as stupid does.
For what it’s worth, the guy seems like a first class jerk but he was also trained as a Search and Rescue helicopter pilot in the Royal Air Force before becoming an Air Ambulance Pilot with EAA. It’s easy to laugh about what he did with EAA because he notoriously treated it as more of a hobby than a job, but Search and Rescue is one of the most technically complex, dangerous, and demanding helicopter missions that you can fly. Even if he barely made it through, the RAF’s SAR training is some of the best in the world.
The Sikorsky S76 pictured and the Bell 429 mentioned are both undoubtedly being flown in dual pilot configuration (two sets of controls) while William and his family are on board. When he is on the controls, there is a professional pilot up there with him to step in in the event of an emergency. Both of those helicopters are also full autopilot aircraft that are designed and equipped to fly in instrument conditions…aka “inclement conditions” when you can no longer use your eyes to see outside of the aircraft and have to rely on your instruments.
I’ve flown thousands of strangers in my aircraft, and that wasn’t any less or more dangerous than when I flew my family or friends. Also, diverting for weather or because of a technical issue with the aircraft aren’t “close calls” to anyone who flies regularly. A pilot who is able to recognize when they’re better off changing their plan than pushing ahead and dealing with unforeseen circumstances to try and “get the job done” is a safe pilot with sound judgement.
Like I said, I don’t think PWT is a good person whatsoever but that doesn’t make him an inherently inept pilot, and saying that it’s “dangerous as hell” for him to fly his own family comes across as a knee-jerk denouncement, at least to someone who flies an air ambulance for a living.
Be all that as it may, the idea that he needs a second helicopter for flying his family around when he’s Mr. Earthshot is absolutely ridiculous and hypocritical. No one is criticizing the RAF in here.
@Becks1 No argument against that here. The fact that he scoots around town in twin turbine helicopters and then jets off to Africa to lecture people on how they need to do better about protecting the environment is obscene.
But I would argue that the writer and commentators who were denouncing his capabilities as a pilot and calling him “dangerous as hell” just because he’s an a-hole actually were criticizing the RAF, albeit unintentionally. He’s highly unlikable so it’s easy to just get the knives out and forget about how/where he actually learned to fly.
From what I understand, William probably shouldn’t have been a copilot in the first place. Isn’t his eyesight kind of bad? Most pilots have to have very good vision in order to do the job anyway. I am legitimately curious if he should’ve even been allowed to fly.
Melissa, William is dangerous as hell because he’s an egotist with poor eyesight who has never been fully trained to pilot. You can go back and find old stories about him being rushed through training, never qualifying, skipping shifts, having to be retrained.
He has never been fully trained nor has he ever been the pilot. He was whipped through helo training years ago in a few months, when the training takes four years. Nearly lost his wings in Wales because he wasn’t showing up for shifts. Had to retrain for a year to get close to qualifying as a co-pilot for EAAA. Again, didn’t show up to work for months on end, his co-workers leaked the info, and a William insider was put in charge to shut them up. He is not a qualified pilot, nor does he have the flight hours to be allowed to oilot.
For everyone bringing up PWT’s eyesight, civilian pilots certified under FAA and/or EASA regulations can hold a First Class Medical Certificate (which has the strictest requirements) as long as their distance vision is corrected to 20/20 (FAA) or 6/6 (EASA) and they wear their glasses/contacts while flying. The USAF allows pilots with distance vision that’s corrected to 20/20 as long as it isn’t worse than 20/70 uncorrected. The RAF doesn’t allow glasses at all for their pilots; you have to be 6/6 naturally or via LASIK.
Notasugarhere, have you personally seen William’s logbook? Do you know for a fact that he doesn’t maintain currency? How does his flight time break down in terms of category, class, and type? Do you know which aircraft he has been type rated to operate, or what a type rating even is? Remembering a few stories involving helicopters that you read on a gossip blog doesn’t actually translate into any practical knowledge about the aviation industry, or whether a specific individual is qualified to be a pilot.
Ah, another new name on here insisting the past 20 years of William’s antics around flying haven’t happened. And weren’t publicly reported in reputable places like BBC, Telegraph, Guardian. Nothing related to USA flight qualifications matter here.
For those of us paying attention, the way he got into flight training when others with his eyesight couldn’t. When his co-workers spoke out about him not showing up for months. When it was publicly released he nearly lost his wings in Wales because he was never there working. When it was publicly reported that he trained in weeks not four years. When he publicly had to do a remedial year of retraining to be qualified to be a part part part time co-pilot. That we haven’t seen him in glasses in helos.
Guess the last 20 years didn’t happen because you say it didn’t.
It’s fair to criticize the RAF because they broke their rules to certify William for a position that he does not deserve, and which also puts others in danger. The RAF rolled over for the crown, and people have the right to call that out. Now considering “Royal” is the first word in their name, they probably didn’t have a choice. But the way to keep a reputation of honor is to act with it all the time. The RAF did not.
Melissa, I just wanted to take a moment to say that I found your background information really interesting and insightful. You elevated the conversation and engaged in a respectful, open-minded, nuanced way. Thank you for taking the time to contribute.
This sounds like a warning to William more than anything, since anything can happen walking,, sleeping, eating, driving, He doesn’t fly with is Dad so there will always be a successor, this brings to mind Kobe if that didn’t deter him why would the grey men in suits (aka The queen). I think this maybe one of Wills sub conscious coping mechanisms, for the death of his mother.
They should let him be,
Anytime it mentions how pleased she is with their workload/commitment, I know the queen has nothing whatsoever to do with what’s being attributed to her. Because like hell she’s pleased they haven’t yet managed to undertake as much work as she does with her little finger.
Yeah, this is the giveaway that this has nothing to do with the queen because even newly widowed, with a secret ailment and she still outworks them. No way is she pleased that Burger King and Fries have done even less than they normally do.
Repeat
A 95-year old grandmother is worried about her grandson flying helicopters with his whole family inside. How abnormal. I wonder how the tabloids come up with these stories. Did someone in TQ’s circle actually go to The Sun? Did the gray men plant something to emphasize the line of succession. Or did one of the writers go to the editor and say – here’s how we spin the Cambridge helicopter thing, let’s guess what TQ might be thinking.
Trashloids are trashloids for a reason. Straight up delusional bullshit.
William and helicopters goes back to his jealousy over Harry and Harry’s abilities. One of the RRs admitted it. They saw the difference between the helo William was pretending to co-pilot vs. the helo Harry was piloting in war zones. They termed it ‘Budgie vs. Airwolf’.
I never bought the story Harry had to leave the Army because he didn’t want a desk job. He could have trained on the new helos being brought in and remained a pilot. That would have meant he was even better than William and that he was actively flying highly complex machine William couldn’t handle. William didn’t want that, didn’t want Harry having a higher rank and being known as the ace family flyer, so he put pressure to make Harry quit and do royal work.
William continuing to pretend to fly now is him publicly rubbing Harry’s nose in it, his ongoing access to helicopters whenever he wants. 3 million a year in taxpayer funds wasted for William’s ego.
I mentioned FAA and USAF vision standards to debunk the common misconception that you need uncorrected 20/20 vision to be a professional pilot. EASA’s civilian standards are those under which William currently operates, and by their standards he can hold a First Class Medical as long as his vision is corrected to 20/20. But I guess acknowledging that portion of my comment would have meant admitting that you were incorrect about William’s “poor eyesight” making him “dangerous as hell.”
Also, “losing your wings” isn’t something that happens from failing to maintain currency, which is the issue that William was having at EAA. You “lose your wings” (aka lose your pilot certifications) if you violate your aviation authority’s regulations and they choose to suspend or revoke your privileges to fly.
So patronize away with your condescending little digs like “For those of us paying attention,” because anyone who actually has experience with aviation will pick up on a phrase like “lose your wings” in the context you’re using it and know instantly that you’re just an armchair quarterback parroting back what they read without actually understanding it.
Would you ride in a helicopter with William as the pilot?
William wears glasses to drive, which confirms he didn’t get lasik and according to what you stated, the RAF requires 20/20 vision either naturally or through lasik. So an exception must have been made. The loosening of the standards for civilian pilots doesn’t matter since he was first accepted in the RAF.
There you are again, Nic919, bringing the facts and debunking what the brand new font is trying to sell. And keeps trying to sell over and over in this thread. Me thinks the call is coming from within KP.
William doesn’t care what the pheasants think of his lavish lifestyle. Also lol at keeping the queen up at night worrying.
I bet she is dismayed about his and Kate laziness and whether they ever have any intention of stepping up to heavy workload required of a monarch!
MsLove If he had another professional pilot up there with him on dual controls, sure. I’d also be comfortable having him up front on controls with me, in a helicopter that I’m experienced with and current in.
I’ve taught primary flight instruction, which meant sharing controls with strangers who were usually much larger and stronger than me and building their skills from the ground up. Getting flown around by an entitled, egotistical rich guy who has a pro up there on the controls next to him just incase doesn’t really make you blink after that.
I think the men in grey planted this on their own. They know full well that King Henry (Harry) IX would fire every last one of them for their treatment of Queen Consort Meghan.
What I don’t get is that last year he was keen to return to flying air ambulances to help with the COVID effort. The accounts show that the number of KP heli flights increased – during lockdown! So if he’s flying – why isn’t he helping transport sick patients – if he’s qualified to do so?
This article seems manufactured just to generate outrage and clicks. I don’t know why they even think up this scenario. Is it desperation, boredom, malice, or thinking the sky is falling?
Maybe they want you to see the queen as a concerned granny worried about her grandson instead of a cold hearted monarch protecting her horrible rapist son, IMO.
It just seems weird to suddenly focus on this scenario. There are all sorts of security and health concerns they have to worry about like terrorism or assassination attempts, heart attacks, Covid or vehicle/aircraft crashes, esp.. after Diana. They’re also very anxious but ERII holding on for much longer. It’s just seems weird this sudden angst about the succession, unless William’s been behaving recklessly behind the scenes, which wouldn’t be a surprise from Mr. Incandescent himself.
This story seems so random, who is leaking stories about Queen Elizabeth being worried about Prince William flying by helicopter? He’s been doing it with his family (along with several members of the BRF) for years, why do this now? It’s news to me that William may be flying his own family around in the helicopter which seems unwise if that’s true. I’m assuming there’s a copilot with him and he isn’t doing it alone since I have no idea what kind of pilot license he has or how that works in the UK. Someone (Charles??) wants William to consider the issue of succession should something happen to him, Kate, and all the kids? Or is this a random cover story for something else (Andrew?). If such a tragedy were to occur, Harry and Meghan would be next in line. But given that they made the choice to live as far as possible from the UK, I doubt Harry would want to be king and would abdicate (and I doubt this scenario keeps Harry up at night). If he did, I’m guessing Edward would be next in line and then Louise and James? There’s no way Andrew could ever become king. It’s too bad Anne isn’t in the running since the rules changed to apply to George and future heirs. Anne would have been a perfectly good Queen and we all know it.
Perhaps setting up the narrative for an unfortunate ‘accident’ next year by TPTB, should-God forbid-anything bad happens to Willnot and his helicopter (thinking of Kobe rn, unfortunately).
If there’s indeed a serious constitutional crisis with regards to Willie’s mental state and the soundness of his impending rulership, the men in gray may look to the past (ie, Diana’s unfortunate ‘accident’ in 1997) and terminate any serious threats to the future succession of the crown while passing the torch to a more impressionable (and easier to manage) first born. [See example: literally, any episodes of Game of Thrones]
Following your scenario, after Harry and his children would be Andrew, and queen Fergie. The tabloids would have a field day, all day, every day.
Although if Harry abdicated they could appoint a regent for Archie until he was old enough to decide. This concludes my pseudo knowledge of the succession.
Princess Beatrice would be after Andrew, then Eugenie if Harry and his children stepped aside. Beatrice and Eugenie would come before Edward.
@AmelieOriginal said:
“I doubt Harry would want to be king and would abdicate… If he did, I’m guessing Edward would be next in line and then Louise and James? There’s no way Andrew could ever become king.”
This is all wildly improbable in the first place, but succession-wise, if this imagined tragedy occurred, and Harry decided to abdicate, and then Andrew was officially deemed unfit, the crown inheritance would pass to Andrew’s oldest daughter, Beatrice, not to Prince Edward and progeny.
Also, @Lizzie makes an excellent point about the inheritance first having to pass to Archie if Harry abdicates. I don’t think Harry is allowed to make a blanket decision for his underage kids regarding the crown inheritance.
If the situation ever came to the possibility of a King Archie I am pretty sure that Parliament would happily work with Harry to legislate an abdication for both himself AND both of his not-100%-white children.
I don’t think there’d be many in Parliament or the aristocracy in general who would be SO hardline that a father abdicating for himself and his two small children would be unacceptable AND liberal enough that a mixed-race monarch with an American biracial actress mother and a father who abdicated from the same role WOULD be acceptable.
I haven’t heard of any of this eyesight/flaking out/bad piloting stuff. Links, anyone? I reasonably assumed he was at leaat trained and has a copilot.
He was never a “bad” co-pilot but he did shrug off a number of work hours. Also, he was always the co-pilot with the air ambulance team. He received the first phase of training allowing him to co-pilot professionally but he’s not trained to pilot an air ambulance helicopter himself. His eyesight remains problematic as 20/20 vision is necessary, or at least Lasik surgery performed to correct vision issues. Glasses are the least preferred method for vision problems, contact lenses are much preferred.
He could kill himself and all his heirs in one go. No wonder she wants him to stop it. Beyond stupid. Imagine them having to ask Harry tp come home. Not a hope he’d do it
HRH Archie, Prince of Wales, has a nice sound to it.
It’s nice, but personally I’d prefer Senator Archie for the Great State of California instead. He’d be a great endorser for his baby sister (Lillibet) when she becomes Madame President of the United States. (Lilli is eligible for the presidency due to being born in the US, whereas Archie was, sadly –through no fault of his own–born in the UK.)
How about THAT for a plot twist: The ‘court of Montecito’ one day becomes a dynastic, world power that’s not assigned by birth, but through the power of vote cast by the people; a true and legitimate democracy. Screw HBO, this is where the drama truly reigns supreme!
Archie is still eligible until he chooses to renounce, or not, his British citizenship. His mother is still an American which gives him natural born status regardless of the location of his birth. It’s why Ted Cruz, born in Canada to a Cuban father but an American mother was eligible to run. (FYI regarding the birther nonsense with Obama. If he had been born in Kenya instead of Hawaii he wouldn’t have been eligible despite his mother being an American because of her age when she had him. She was too young under the law to transfer that natural born citizenship. It’s moot because he was born in Hawaii but it sometimes causes confusion since he had an American parent so it shouldn’t have mattered whether he was born in Kenya or not. Also gross because they took advantage of the fact he was an orphan to attack. They couldn’t have gotten away with so much if his mother had been alive. You know birthers we’re happy she was dead.)
Or King Archie & President Lili. OR vice-versa.
Archie is an American citizen thru his mother but I believe his title (earl and future duke) disqualifies him from the Presidency unless he renounces them. Had Ted Cruz won there were people planning to challenge his eligibility to be President because he was not born on American soil. If Archie got around the title question that issue would also come up and his eligibility would be questioned.
The titles clause is one the haters keep harping on. That amendment to the US Constitution was never ratified, ergo is irrelevant.
I want Will to live for a very long time (still miserable and incandescent) and his children to be in very good health so Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili don’t ever have to go back to the Saxe Coburg and Gotha royal hellhole. As long as the sociopathic tabloids still have the royals and the government in their vice grip, no good will come of returning to Brexit Island. Let FFK and FFQC Lamebridge have that life of tabloid blackmail/puppet strings so The Sussexes can be free.
It’s rather gross of the BM (no surprise they’re living up to their initials) to go right to the deaths of three very young children just to attack Harry and Meghan (a separate grossness so a twofer in one article). I mean all three of those children would have to die in an awful crash, young lives snuffed out, but yada yada, Harry and Meghan! Harry as king, Archie as POW. Just so morbid and tacky.
The Queen is used to trash Harry and Meghan supposedly “worrying” about William flying helicopters. If she were that worried she would have refused giving permission to William to delay taking on full time duties to go into the Air Ambulance with the job created just for him. He was only co-pilot in any case.
If that story is true, it’s the first I’ve heard that William can pilot on his own since he was always a copilot in the East Anglia emergency service, l forgot the initials. Unless he got his accreditation as a pilot, if he’s flying helicopters l would think he’d have to have a pilot with him unless he’s obviously become more casual about not following any of the protocols. No shock there.
Conspiracy theory
Maybe a little bird told the queen,
A little accident might happen like Diana car crash because willie popularity (doubtful, but willie does try to overturn his father).
He makes those strange faces like his father does.
Thank you, Melissa. Some folks believe what the tabloids print is the gospel. William and Charles should never be on the same aircraft. Because George is a direct heir, you would think Kate and William would be on separate flights, but I suspect it’s not that serious. The Sun seems desperate to convince its readers that the Q is actively engaged in day-to-day activities. I don’t recall the last time I saw the Cambridge family in a vehicle. The helicopter seems to be their preferred mode of transportation. Who will complain? Only Sussex must use public transport or a car. Two non-stories on the same day.
Why mention the Sussex’s they obviously don’t want to be King and Queen. The spin doctors publishing these shit-stirring who-do-you-love articles, that country is just gross.
The Queen or BP? stated the obvious and/or protocol which is pure logic. The concern go beyond safety to include cost and optics.
It is interesting how this is reportage juxtaposés with reference to Harry, who reiterated on many occasions his disinterest with the ‘top job’.
The Queen’s only public references to the Sussexes were extended birthday wishes, where she acknowledged Harry and Meghan’s contribution to the RF using his given title – the Duke of Sussex while the ‘wolves’ screamed for the titles to be rescinded.
The other event was the fuss over Lili Diana’s name, yet they are referenced.
The meaning lies with source and the news agency who chose to print the original article.
My interprétation is discomfort with the real close relationship that the Queen and her late husband share with her grandson and his wife extending to their two children despite the distance. It is one of Bill’s sticking points?