Royal travel is part of everyday life for the Royal Family, who embark on global ventures frequently. Whether they’re liaising with heads of state or meeting the general public, the Royal Family act as a figurehead and represent the British nation in far-flung corners of the world. No other monarch is as well travelled as the Queen, who has flown around the globe a whopping 42 times. With so much time spent in the air, it’s no surprise the Royal Family like to feel at home while they are 36,000 feet up.
As part of recent Channel 5 documentary “Secrets of the Royal Flight“, Royal insiders who have worked with the family revealed some of the home comforts they enjoy while travelling.
Naturally, many of these are oozing in opulence, however, some are a little more down to earth.
According to Graham Laurie, the pilot for the Queen’s flight from 1981 to 1995: “As far as the Royal Family are concerned they come up the steps into something which is effectively home.”
That means the plane had to be “specially modified to meet their demands”, meanwhile it was up to the staff to ensure the royal’s had all of their favourite “creature comforts” to hand.
Service onboard was provided by lone Steward Dave Wright, who worked with the monarch between 1990 and 1995.
He was present on over 750 global flights and reveals a few secrets about the type of luxury items the family required.
Not only did they have “monogrammed tableware” which was “polished to perfection”, but all of their drinks would also be “served in sparkling crystal glasses”.
However, it wasn’t just about the commodities onboard as Dave points out.
He says: “ [The] Prince of Wales, very much into his organic food, a lot of the time his food would arrive in containers. Once his chef has provided, in those containers, you can’t then decant it into anything else and make it look as good as what it already is.
“So invariably his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales would have his tray and would have his lunch served in Tupperware containers. Very nice.”
Of course, like anyone the royal’s enjoy the simpler things in life too.
Bob Shields, navigator for the Queen’s Flight for over ten years, revealed: “Some of them brought their own slippers. One female member of the family brought her favourite shawl, so she used to sit and wear that while she was flying.”
Cabin Steward Dave also revealed some of the mischiefs that went on onboard, particularly from two younger members of the family.
He reveals that Prince William and Harry had a bit of a sweet tooth.
As the narrator of the documentary points out: “It’s all well and good flying a well behaved Prince Charles or Duke of Edinburgh, but two boys under 10 were a very different story.”
He said: “The boys knew where the sweets were kept and they would fill their pockets full of sweets.
“You could see their pockets were bulging.”
However, pilot Graham Laurie says that carrying the two young Royals was always “a delight.”
