Without British Airways there would be no Kate Middleton, so it seems proper payback that Britain's national carrier will be a leading beneficiary of her marriage to Prince William.
Untold thousands will fly with BA to London from across the globe for the holy wedlock of Prince William and the lovelyKate some time next spring or summer. And many more will fly out of Britain to escape it.
Most are probably thinking: make it go away. It won't. We're stuck with months of mawkish drivel from royalists and vinegary carping from republicans. For those in the indifferent middle, it'll be hell on earth. So let's find one oasis of cheer in the desert of foolishness that lies ahead: the revival of social mobility. The future princess' maternal grandfather was a builder, while her dad's dad was a pilot (not even the RAF; a commercial pilot, if you please). Her parents, Carole and Mike, are in the mail-order trade and met in the mid-1970s as BA cabin-crew colleagues.
Passing over the revelation that aviation history boasts a straight airline steward, the sadness concerns the timing. Mike had jettisoned pushing the duty-free trolley some years before Kate's birth in 1982. So there appears no chance she has honorary life membership of the Mile High Club conferred by conception 36,000 ft above Earth. Had she been, this would be an even more amazing rags-to-royalty story than a King of the Jews born in a stable.
Yet her social ascent is vertical enough. She appears to be the first commoner to be marrying a monarch or anyone in direct line to the throne since the Catherines Parr and Howard were joined in matrimony to Henry VIII.
The sole justification for the anachronism of monarchy is the hilarity it induces. But this couple seem worryingly normal. It's hard to imagine Kate having England's rugby captain smuggled into Kensington Palace in a car boot.
Nor can you envisage William reinterpreting a tenet of Buddhism to express his desire to be reincarnated with Dr White stamped on his backside.
So before booking a foreign trip from April until September next year, let's offer a warmish welcome to the coming Princess of Wales. Cabin crew, don't bother with the safety belts. It won't be a bumpy ride.
