...This has not cost the Uk any more money than if they had stayed at home...
It has most certainly cost a lot more than if they stayed at home as the British taxpayers have to pay for first class airfares and accommodation along with meal allowances for the security.
I remember when Eugenie was on her post school gap year and she was staying in the backpackers place where it was pointed out that the non on duty RPOs would be at the first class hotel down the road and that they were being rotated out every 2 weeks or so, again first class - because that is what is required for the security detail.
If they were at home those costs wouldn't be there.
They are also costing more because George has to have a full separate detail of his own when separated so that means a number of officers who would be either on other duties or leave having to cover him. When he is with his parents he doesn't get a full 6 - 8 person team of his own.
Amazing! Catherine and William could burn Buckingham palace down and people would find an excuse. I'm starting to see why so many have left this forum.
There is a reason why on other boards this one is called the 'sugar' board. More and more criticism of the royals is being discouraged here - especially of William and Kate.
Who wouldn't want to take a vacation if you could afford it from this rotten cold?
Not George VI - he was upset, extremely upset, when he was in South Africa in 1947 and it was cold, wet and miserable in the UK and he was in the warmth out there. He made it publicly known that he was turn between his duty to be in SA at the time but also that he couldn't be with the people in the UK and sharing their suffering - just as he had done through the Blitz.
This couple is not an ordinary couple or a normal couple but a privileged one that doesn't seem to get that fact. Their privileges haven't come as a result of hard work from either themselves for their forefathers but from being descended, in William's case, from the biggest, baddest bullies in the middle ages that saw them rise to the top of the heap. As a result he has expectations on him that he isn't living up to. He and his wife shouldn't be going overseas when the weather is cold but rather be with the people who can't get away - to share their suffering - as George VI did all those years ago.
You all are just a barrel of laughs and a great time.
Seriously for most of us, royal watching is a hobby and it's fun and entertaining.
If you find yourself personally offended that someone you don't know took a vacation, you might want to look at your life and examine your choices.
It was my choice many years ago to respect and look up to the BRF - but that respect has gone out the window due to William and his waste of space wife.
You might see this as a hobby - but for many generations it was part of the psyche of the nation - to look up to and respect and love the royals who gave back through work and being part of the fabric of the nation. William hasn't grasped that essential fact and thumbs his nose at the British people every chance he gets - holidaying overseas (something his grandmother never does and increasingly his father doesn't do either).
William's attitude is actually impacting the very way many British people even define themselves - even if they don't do so consciously - they expect a royal to work for the nation from their early-mid 20s for life but William is now in his 30s and still hasn't started really serving the nation. He is a role model who is failing. Kate has failed completely as being someone any self-respecting girl would aspire to be like.