“It is a general rule that when the Queen travels to one of the old dominions, they foot the bill,” Hardman wrote.
“In 1995, as the Queen prepared to head for New Zealand, [Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jim] Bolger’s government suggested that she might like to fly on a scheduled flight.
“Officials at the Foreign Office in London tried to scupper the idea, arguing that the Queen does not take scheduled flight, ‘for security reasons.’
“However, as the Queen’s staff at the Palace had to remind the British government, all things relating to a tour of New Zealand were a matter for her New Zealand government.
