Kate, Wills and the £8million helicopter commute
AFTER a strenuous afternoon at the Queen’s Buckingham Palace garden party, it seems that the prospect of a draining journey home on a packed train or a long ride in a car was all too much for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
So the Royal couple opted instead to be whisked back to their Norfolk estate in a luxury helicopter – a ride that cost taxpayers thousands of pounds.
Our exclusive picture shows a casually dressed William and Kate sauntering across the grass to board a Sikorsky S-76C that had landed close to their London home, Kensington Palace, on Tuesday evening.
The privately hired helicopter then flew them the 100 miles to Anmer Hall on the Queen’s Sandringham estate in just 45 minutes – and at an estimated cost of £5,000.
The £8million aircraft, which is described as ‘the true luxury express of the skies’, boasts a six-seat leather-upholstered cabin and a top speed of 180mph.
Buckingham Palace refused to comment on the cost of the helicopter, which was hired from Oxford VIP charter company Capital Air Services. But Martin Benetar, director of private charter company CharterA, which leases a helicopter identical to this one, said it will have set taxpayers back £15,000 for the day.
The helicopter was used by Princess Anne for two Royal engagements in Portsmouth before it flew William and Kate home. At a day rate of £15,000, the three trips each cost an average of £5,000.
Mr Benetar said: ‘It’s an £8million vehicle and doesn’t come cheap. They cost about £3,000 to hire per hour, plus there is the cost of fuel and pilots.’
By contrast, the Queen regularly joins ordinary travellers by catching the train when she goes back to Sandringham.
She takes the train from King’s Cross to King’s Lynn, most recently last December when she and the Duke of Edinburgh bought £54.90 firstclass tickets.
The cost of a one-way first-class train ticket on the Great Northern service from King’s Cross to King’s Lynn has now risen to £55.40. Should William and Kate have been accompanied by five security officers, the total cost would have been almost £390.
But the journey would have taken two hours longer than their helicopter ride. The couple would also have had to be driven to King’s Cross, a journey of about 25 minutes, before boarding the train for the one hour 55 minutes rail trip to King’s Lynn.
They would then have to be picked up and driven for about 25 minutes to Anmer Hall.
Alternatively, driving all the way in one of the Royal Range Rovers would take at least two hours and 45 minutes and cost £40 in petrol.
There would be a security detail following in another Range Rover, adding another £40 for petrol. The Royal couple were spotted by student Catie Giebner, who posted a photo on her Instagram feed.
She wrote: ‘Randomly walked up to a fence where a bunch of people were standing and saw Will and Kate walking to their helicopter.’
Hours before they boarded the helicopter, the couple had stepped out for their first garden party of the year at Buckingham Palace.
The Palace said: ‘As clearly stated in the Sovereign Grant report, the Royal Household has helicopters that are used for members of the Royal Family travelling to or from official engagements.
‘On some occasions, when all factors are considered, the helicopters provided the best option for travel.’
Norman Baker, a member of the Privy Council and former Liberal Democrat Cabinet Minister, said: ‘This is an outrageous waste of public money.
‘At a time when everybody else is tightening their belts, it seems members of the Royal Family are loosening theirs and the public are having to pick up the bill.’