Sombre William at the wheel as royals dashed to be at Queen’s side
WITH a stony expression as he gripped the steering wheel, Prince William drove senior royals to the Queen’s bedside yesterday.
The Duke of Cambridge whisked his uncles Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and the Countess of Wessex, to the Balmoral estate.
The Queen’s children and grandchildren dashed to her Scottish residence as the gravity of the situation became increasingly clear. In the morning, Prince Charles flew to his mother using Her Majesty’s personal helicopter. The Royal Air Force brought William, Andrew, Edward and Sophie up from London in the afternoon.
It was a moment the Prince of Wales must have rehearsed in his mind for years.
At 9.47am, the heir to the throne, clutching a large briefcase and wearing a light grey suit, was picked up from Dumfries House in Ayrshire, along with his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, for the 150mile journey north to Balmoral.
The burgundy-coloured Queen’s Helicopter Flight flew directly to her Highlands residence, landing exactly 40 minutes later.
Charles has been spending much of his summer at Birkhall, his Scottish residence, making almost daily visits to Balmoral just 15 minutes’ drive away.
But he and Camilla spent Wednesday night at Dumfries House after attending an event there for The Prince’s Foundation. The helicopter that picked them up had been scrambled from Windsor, where William lives, but the Duke of Cambridge did not make the journey north himself until some hours later.
The timings raised the question of whether the decision to summon the whole family was not made initially but only once the situation had grown more serious as the day progressed.
By lunchtime, all the senior royals were making urgent travel plans. At 2.30pm, the Royal Air Force was preparing a jet for takeoff at RAF Northolt in west London. On board were William and Andrew, along with Edward and Sophie Wessex.
Their Dassault Falcon 900LX was the same aircraft – on the same route – that only two days earlier had taken Liz Truss to Scotland to be appointed Prime Minister.
What a difference two days made. On Tuesday, the RAF crew would have witnessed the excitement of Miss Truss as she went to Balmoral to meet the Queen, and then again on her return to London just minutes after becoming PM.
Yesterday, the atmosphere on board would have been sombre and tense as they rushed the senior royals to Her Majesty’s side.
Known as Envoy IV, the Frenchmade executive jet is one of two purchased by the RAF for £80million to carry up to 14 VIP passengers including members of the
Royal Family and senior figures in the government and military. It is based at RAF Northolt with No 32 (The Royal) Squadron.
Flight KRF23R took off at 2.39pm and landed at Aberdeen airport at 3.50pm. The aircraft’s captain descended the steps and saluted as William stepped off first, followed by Sophie, Edward and finally Andrew.
The royals then climbed into a fleet of Range Rovers waiting for them on the runway, and the convoy set off for Balmoral, 45 miles away. William took the wheel of one and drove, with his eldest uncle in the passenger seat and Edward and Sophie sitting in the rear.
The party arrived in the rain at 5.06pm, sweeping at speed through the wrought-iron gates, with William and Edward in suits with open-neck shirts, Andrew sporting a pink tie and Sophie in a smart coat.
All had bleak expressions. Princess Anne was already at her mother’s side, as royal duties had required her to be in Scotland anyway.
Camilla had been due to visit cancer support charity Maggie’s Centre in Glasgow yesterday, until she suddenly cancelled – one of the first indications that something was seriously awry.
Back in Windsor, the Duchess of Cambridge was pictured looking reflective as she left Adelaide Cottage to pick up her three children after their first full day of school.