Why did William and Kate take a budget flight?

The media is awash again with talk of a right royal rivalry after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took their family on a budget £73-a-head FlyBe plane to Balmoral after Harry and Meghan came under fire for talking four private jet trips in 11 days.

A Flybe spokeswoman said: “We were delighted to welcome the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their family on board one of our flights again, this time when they flew from Norwich to Aberdeen on a Flybe flight operated by Eastern Airways.”

It is not unheard of for royals to travel on budget airlines but many in the media think the timing of the move is no coincidence, with William and Kate “deliberately slumming it” to “troll” the other royal couple.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Mirror points out that Kate and William's “£73 flight” comes amid Harry and Meghan’s “private jet row,” and The Sun says the move sees “Wills” give Harry a “flying lesson”.

“You couldn’t make it up,” adds Libby Purves in the Daily Mail, “Ibiza-sleaze and popstar preening for one pair; for the other, a bleary early morning at Norwich airport.”

However, as Metro points out, royals have flown economy before, with the couple taking a FlyBe flight in 2011 from Edinburgh to Manchester for the wedding of William's cousin Zara Tindall, while Harry headed back from the marriage with Ryanair.

Critics had called Harry and Meghan hypocritical for flying by private jets, which emit seven times more carbon emissions than an economy flight.

Earlier this week Sir Elton John had entered the row about Prince Harry, Meghan and their son Archie taking his private jet to visit his home in Nice, in the south of France, saying: “We ensured their flight was carbon neutral, by making the appropriate contribution to Carbon Footprint.”