Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a service together. Photo / Getty Images
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a service together. Photo / Getty Images
COMMENT:
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge showed the world they can live like the rest of us by hopping aboard a NZ$140 economy flight to Scotland with their children yesterday.
Normally, that would be something to applaud and commend but, in this particular circumstance, it leaves a rathersour taste.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chose to fly with a budget airline right when his younger brother, Harry, Duke of Sussex, is under public scrutiny over his lavish holiday with wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and their baby boy Archer.
This budget-friendly move by William comes just days after criticism of Harry and Meghan's multiple private jets taken in an 11 day period during their holiday.
Those who jumped to Harry and Meghan's defence claimed the royal couple need to spend that much on their flights because flying on a public airline would be a "security risk".
Well, William and Kate have just proven that's a whole load of nonsense and, with their budget flight, have fuelled the controversy surrounding his brother's expenses (which had already been sparked by the reportedly exorbitant cost of the renovations of Harry and Meghan's Frogmore Cottage).
While it is great that William and Kate are trying to save some taxpayer money with their travels, the timing of this is a little off.
However way you choose to look at it, William's move doesn't make Harry look very good.
There's a chance William knew this and still chose to go ahead and make his point this way and there's also a chance he didn't realise how this would come across and was just trying to show royals are just like the rest of us and can very well cope with the carry-on requirements of public airlines.
However, even if he didn't realise it, the end result is still the same. William and Kate are, whether they realise it or not, fuelling the outrage over his brother's expenses.
Princess Diana with William and Harry. Photo / Getty Images
Through all her troubles, the one thing Princess Diana always fought hard for was for her boys and their unity as siblings. She raised them to have each other's backs.
All these rumours of a feud between the royal brothers could have some substance to them or could be just misunderstandings but, either way, taking a step that so boldly highlights the difference in how they are choosing to live is not something Diana would have approved of.
