Royal Transportation (land, sea, air)

[Opal]

I realize there are different types/sizes of small planes. I was just giving SLV an example of what I was referring to.

 

[Iluvbertie]

I realize there are different types/sizes of small planes. I was just giving SLV an example of what I was referring to.

You made a comment that small planes are one engine two seaters so I wanted to make it clear that small planes that can be flown on a basic pilot's license can be bigger than that - two engines and up to 10 seaters at least based on my personal experience.

 

[Lumutqueen]

I was at the National Railway Museum yesterday and when watching a video about the Royal Train I found out that the two carraiges that pull the train are named Princes William and Henry.

 

[Melania]

I'm live in Texas, so I am not familiar with travel in the UK. I wanted to know about the Royal Train. Where do the royals use the royal train, and how long are their trips? I was wondering this because, in this article: Prince Charles gives a rare glimpse inside the Royal Train, there is a picture of a bed for staff accommodations. Are their trips so long that the staff need beds? Also, the chairs on the train do not look that comfortable for long trips. I was wondering if anyone had any more information on this.

 

[wbenson]

When the train is used, it's used because it doubles as a traveling hotel. Trips that don't require an overnight stay probably wouldn't be done using the Royal Train.

 

[KittyAtlanta]

I don't know about pilot licensing outside the U.S. Here, a pilot must be certified on EACH type of craft s/he wants to fly. There are also two separate types of small-craft licenses: a basic one to land and take off by sight and another to be able to do instrument landings. Lots of study, with a lot of math.

 

[yvr girl]

There is not reason that William could't fly himself to an engagement. Prince Andrew does. Prince Charles has. Prince Phillip has.

A fixed wing license is for an airplance vs a rotary or helicopter license. I'm not sure how Williams military license would translate to civilian. Most countries have Private, Commercial and Air Transport. You need to have certain amounts of flying time for each license plus you need to pass written and practical exams. He would easily have enough experience to obtain a Commercial license. In Canada, you only need 200 hours of flying time. You don't need a license to fly a specific plane. If it is significantly different than the ones you are accustomed to flying, a plane owner may require a check ride before he will rent it to you. The pilot only needs to look at the manual to familiarize himself with take-off speed, allowable weight etc.

He wouldn't be able to fly his father anywhere, but they can't even be passengers on the same plane. The only paperwork he would need to fly himself would be a flightplan - no different than any other pilot.

 

[Lumutqueen]

Mr Royal Train sacked by new German bosses...after 30 years serving the Queen (and not stepping on her corgis!) | Mail Online

The man dubbed Mr Royal Train after playing a key role in helping it to run smoothly for more than 30 years has been made redundant after a German company took over its maintenance.
Chris Hillyard, 53, was pictured many times helping the Queen on board, while a book about the train calls him ‘the glue holding it together’ – even revealing his efforts to avoid treading on corgis.
The Royal Train manager was even awarded the Royal Victorian Medal by the Queen

 

[pacomartin]

Royal Train

I'm live in Texas, so I am not familiar with travel in the UK. I wanted to know about the Royal Train. Where do the royals use the royal train, and how long are their trips? I was wondering this because, in this article: Prince Charles gives a rare glimpse inside the Royal Train, there is a picture of a bed for staff accommodations. Are their trips so long that the staff need beds? Also, the chairs on the train do not look that comfortable for long trips. I was wondering if anyone had any more information on this.

In fiscal year 2009-2010 the train made 19 journeys, with an average distance of 751 miles per journey. During these journeys a total of 20 nights were spent on the Royal Train

In fiscal year 2008-2009 the train made 14 journeys, with an average distance of 696 miles per journey. During these journeys a total of 19 nights were spent on the Royal Train

The royal train was built in 1977 for the Queen's Silver Jubilee. It was composed primarily of a cars from a planned passenger train. In 1997 when the royal household began taking more direct responsibility for their travel budget, a number of things were done to make the train cost less. Among them certain cars were withdrawn, and trips were only permitted by the Queen and Duke, or the Princess of Wales and the Duchess.

At a cost of roughly £1 million last year it is an expensive perk, but nowhere near as costly as the helicopter. While a minister will sometimes complain about the cost, it is not widely decried by the public. First of all it has been around for over 30 years, and many people enjoy it when the Queen arrives by royal train. The other reason is that it is perceived as useful to the aging monarch, because she has an office, can eat her meals on the train, and security personnel and medical equipment are easily carried. Often it is a one way trip, and they return by helicopter.

On a trip, the train pulls into a siding at a classified location so that the royals can sleep.

Photos were released to dispel any rumors that the train was luxurious. I think most people thought it looked like Queen Victoria's train. Instead it is more of a Hampton Inn on wheels.

While the Queen lists a helicopter trip of roughly 240 miles from Edinboro Scotland to Culloden Battlefield Center and the Glendoe hydroelectric power plant normally she does not like to fly long distances in the helicopter. Princess Anne is more likely to fly for days in the helicopter.


The Royal Train comprises nine coaches, including coaches for Household and railway staff, the Police, communications equipment and electricity supply. Five to eight of the coaches are used at any one time. It enables members of the Royal Family to carry out busy schedules over an extended period in a secure environment which minimises disruption and inconvenience to the public and provides accommodation and office facilities. The Train is available for use, on a recharging basis, by Government and for national interest purposes. However, its configuration is for overnight travel and it is not suitable for large scale travel
and entertaining.

A review of the future of the Royal Train seven years ago concluded that it should continue to be used as an integral part of Royal Travel but that the Household and Department for Transport should actively monitor costs to ensure it is run and maintained in the most cost effective manner possible. During the thirteen years of the Grant-in-aid, costs have been reduced (a 49% reduction in absolute terms) through a number of initiatives.

During the year members of the Royal Family made 52 journeys by scheduled rail with an average distance of 99 miles per journey.

During the last year members of the Royal Family made 46 journeys by scheduled rail with an average distance of 165 miles per journey.

Queen's Bedroom

 

[pacomartin]

Royal Aircraft

I don't know about pilot licensing outside the U.S. Here, a pilot must be certified on EACH type of craft s/he wants to fly. There are also two separate types of small-craft licenses: a basic one to land and take off by sight and another to be able to do instrument landings. Lots of study, with a lot of math.

I think Prince William is licensed to fly a Bell Griffin helicopter for search and rescue missions.

The Royal Helicopter is a Sikorsky S76C++ which replaced the S76C+ which was retired after ten years.

By the time this lease expires, Sikorsky should have a commercial version of their X-2 helicopter which will travel at over 300 mph. That should put all of the UK within easy reach of the helicopter.

Right now, the royal family does not own a jet, and they lease charter aircraft for most longer domestic flights. Sometimes the military flies them.

The RAF squadron 32 in Northolt in London flies the royals 53 times in 2010 in an HS125, but was about twice as often five years ago. The military planes are over 25 years old, and are about to be retired. There is no plans to replace them. Without the military flights, the Royal Household will undoubtedly increase pressure to secure either a second helicopter or a small plane.


The largest military VIP jet, the BAE-146 is almost completely retired now, and only flew the royals 8 times last year.

 

[pacomartin]

If Charles was truly concerned about the environment

This is the kind of plane the Prince Charles would lease for domestic trips if he was really concerned about the environment. It's not very fast, but the UK is not very big.

Beechcraft King Air 350
Manufacturer:  Raytheon/Beechcraft
Class:  Turbo Prop
Seating:  9
Lavatory:  aft lav
Cabin Dimensions:  4.90' x 4.60' x 19.60' (H-W-L)
Storage Capacity:  55 cubic feet
Max Payload:  5574 pounds
Take Off Distance:  3300ft
Climb Rate:  2731 feet per minute
Cruise Speed:  312 mph 
Maximum Range:  1854 nautical mile
Cruise Altitude:  35,000 ft

 

[Diarist]

May I help out with a little background information, please?

Military Licences and Civilian Licences are indeed separate - I presume that William is flying on a military licence and would indeed need to convert his licence if he wanted to fly as a civilian.

I remember that shortly after her marriage, Sarah Ferguson decided that she wished to learn to fly 'so that she could understand Prince Andrew's job better'. She started by gaining her fixed wing Licence [and was known as 'Chatterbox One' to air traffic controllers because of her habit of chatting away over her radio link]. She next switched to learning how to fly a helicopter; from memory, the lessons were a gift from the late Lord Hanson. After she qualified as a helicopter pilot, it was pointed out that she could in fact do something that Andrew techinically couldn't, because as he was only the holder of a military licence, he couldn't do any 'pleasure flying' in a helicopter.

The Prince of Wales and Prince Philip did indeed fly themselves to enagements. The Prince of Wales even flew shortly after his marriage when, during his honeymoon, when he flew Diana out to meet the Royal Yacht.

Unfortunately, Prince Charles was involved in some controversy back in 1994, when he was flying to the Scottish Island of Islay for an enagement but overshot the runway and crashed. The plane was very badly damaged indeed and indeed it cost a lot of [taxpayers'] money to repair.

During the subsequent enquiry, Prince Charles was 'exonerated', because although he was fully in charge of the aircraft, he was regarded only as a passenger because was not the 'Captain' of the flight, who was a senior Air Force Officer. I can remember the incident well - there was a bit of an outcry saying that the Air Force Officer was being used as a scapegoat for Prince Charles etc etc. It was subsequently announced however the Prince Charles would never fly himself on an enagement again, which was widely seen as tacit acknowlegement that he had been at fault.

Royals flying has always been a tricky subject. The Duke of Kent [father of the present Duke] was killed during the second world war when piloting a plane. His death is often described as occurring 'when on active service' although my Great Aunt [who remembered the incident very well because of her own war service - she flew delivering planes, as women were not allowed on active combat] told me that there were persistent rumours at the highest level that the Duke of Kent had been flying after having drunk alcohol. Nothing formal about this was ever released to the Public however, as it was embargoed.

One other constraint about Royals flying is the obvious one - 'the heir and the spare' should never fly together, in case of an aviation disaster etc. I believe that the Queen did personally waive this in the case of Prince William - from memory he flew with his parents on their trip to Australia shortly after his birth. There were several other occasions I believe, one being a holiday.

Hope some of this helps,

Alex

 

[PrinceLogan]

Diana's Cars

I started this thread to talk about Princess Diana's cars. Iv always been curious to know about the cars she owned in her personal life and iv been exceptionally curious about one that iv searched all over the Internet and these threads but can't find any information on its a BMW. I think the Princess had it in 1995 it's either a black or a grey color. It's a 4 door car and iv only seen maybe 2 pictures of it ever. I think one of them was of Diana getting in her BMW after leaving the gym. If anyone knows anything about it or can find pictures of it id really like to see them or hear what you know.

 

[muriel]

Prior to getting married, she was seeon in a Renault 4 and a Ford Fiesta.

Whilst marrred to Charles, she typically had Jaguars for official work. Privately, over the years, she was seen driving the following: Jaguar XJ convertible, Audi convertible and Mercedes SL. She was also seen in Rover 600s and Ford Sierra from time to time - these typically belonged to the royal fleet and she occassionally drove them herself.

After she was divorced, her "work" car was a BMW 7 series, and privately she had a BMW 3 series.

 

[Smush]

Diana's last car was a BMW 5er. It was dark blue!

 

[VictoriaB]

This may belong in the jubilee thread.

A proposal has been made to replace the Royal Yacht for the jubilee.

Queen deserves new Royal yacht as Jubilee present - Telegraph

Personally I think it's a dreadful idea. Much as I would like the Royal Yacht to be replaced at some time, now is just the wrong time. Given the recession it is bound to stir up controversy and puts the Queen in an impossible position, if she indicates she approves then she is being extravagant when everyone else is being asked to tighten their belts; if she indicates she does not there is a risk of her being seen as ungrateful.

 

[PrincessKaimi]

Where are these yachts usually built? Is the yacht-making industry in danger of collapse? (It doesn't look like a regular yacht, more like a passenger barge - at least the one they have now does). Perhaps the art of making these is endangered?

Okay, I'm reaching at straws. The one she has looks beautiful and I wonder how often it's really used.

I'm also wondering how early people are going to line the Thames if in fact HM is going to be on that yacht on June 1 (I believe that's the date).

Oh, and I agree that it would be great if something permanent were done to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

 

[EIIR]

There has been a big misunderstanding here, propogated by the Guardian naturally.

Michael Gove was not suggesting that taxpayers money be spent on a new Royal Yacht.

The Times sums up the truth of the matter:

According to The Spectator, which has seen a fuller version of the ministerial letters on the issue, the proposal for a naval training vessel that would double as a new royal yacht was made in a letter from universities minister David Willetts to the Prime Minister on September 5. Rear Admiral Bawtree saw The Future Ship Project for the 21st Century “as a potential replacement for the Royal Yacht Britannia”, Mr Willetts wrote.
“The proposed ship, which will be privately funded with no government subsidy, is to be made available for trade and business events” as well as for scientific and educational work, added Mr Willetts. He said that Prince Charles and Princess Anne had already backed the project.

I've read, although I don't remember precisely where, that a delegation of Canadian businessmen have apparently already pledged funds toward the project. David Cameron has made clear that he supports the idea of a privately funded Royal Yacht so there's a possibility that it might happen.

 

[Jacknch]

Thanks for the update on this EIIR - I only read the Guardian's report! If it is privately funded and will double as a Navy training ship/royal yacht, then I think it should get approval.......I would want a nice blue ship though!!

I'm not sure I would think a new royal yacht would be approved. The price for a new royal yacht has, I think, been put at £60m, which is a drop in the ocean (so to speak!) compared to the billions wasted on other things. However, the cost of updating/refurbishing Royal Yacht Britannia was put at £11m (back in 1997), so I wonder how much it would cost to start using Royal Yacht Britannia again and whether it could pay for itself by continuing to allow paying visitors (Buckingham Palace get's quite a good revenue when it opens to the public. Just a thought.

 

[marine2109]

Prime Minister rules out royal yacht for Queen as more Jubilee details revealed

Diamond Jubilee: David Cameron rules out new royal yacht for Queen - hellomagazine.com

Cameron dismisses the proposal of giving a yacht Elizabeth II with public money

http://www.hola.com/noticias-de-actualidad/16-01-2012/88742/casasreales/

http://translate.google.com.tr/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=tr&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hola.com%2Fnoticias-de-actualidad%2F16-01-2012%2F88742%2Fcasasreales%2F&act=url

 

[Patra]

Given the current economic times, I can understand this announcement.

 

[MichelleQ2]

Sounds like the Queen may get a Yacht after all. I think the comment about Charles and Anne supporting the plan is interesting. I take it to mean financial support.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-honour-Diamond-Jubilee--cost-taxpayers.html

 

[Iluvbertie]

I didn't think it meant anything like financial support from Charles and Anne but more that they thought it was a good idea and a great way to honour their mother.

They may very well make some financial contribution but then again maybe not.

 

[wbenson]

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Iluvbertie]

If they do make a contribution I doubt that we would be told about it or if we are we won't be told how much - just like we often here that The Queen or Charles have made a contribution to some disaster relief fund - we are never told how much they have donated - could be 5 pounds, 500 pounds, 5,000 pounds or whatever.

 

[wbenson]

I'm skeptical that the yacht will ever be a reality, not that the royal family might privately donate funds for it if the plans ever become more concrete.

 

[EIIR]

Apparently a Canadian consortium has already pledged £10 million and a further private donation of £5 million has also been promised. They haven't yet formally announced the project nor launched the fundraising appeal so they're ahead of the game already. Apparently several well-connected people have been working on this for quite some time.

If they hadn't already received significant donations I would agree that the chances of the yacht happening were slim but you never know.

The big banks in the UK are incredibly unpopular in the UK, for obvious reasons. I could see them making significant donations for PR purposes.

 

[Tyger]

Why No New Royal Yacht After Britannica?

Hello All!

It's occurred to me every now and again - given how much the Queen and her family are purported to have loved the Britannica and their lives aboard it - why has there not been a new one built? She's a wealthy woman - she could buy one on her own, couldn't she?

Modern yachts are amazing. They could have a really cool yacht if they wanted. I understand that the Britannica was a happy way for the Queen to travel abroad and be able to entertain foreign heads of state at the same time.

Why no more royal yacht?

LATER: I see my thread has been transported here. Okay. Good info. Interesting to think there will be a new yacht. I like the idea. I think yachts are romantic - 'veddy, veddy posh' - in a good way.

 

[NGalitzine]

The Queen is unlikely to shell out 100 million pounds+ to by a new yacht and then its subsequent upkeep, which really was a symbol of the UK, and neither is the tax payer. Decommissioning was IMO a bad decision by the "Cool Britannia" government of Tony Blair.
There was some earlier discussion of a new yacht paid for by private sunscription but do not believe that went anywhere either.

The Queen has on occassion hired a ship for private cruises around Scotland, and I believe the private yacht Leander is going to be used as part of her Jubilee travels this summer.

 

[Tyger]

Thank you for this. So it was a decision of a government. She couldn't stop it? I hear she cried - in public - at its decommissioning. Why in the world did she let it happen?