Prince Charles and Prince William

It's a luxury most of us take for granted - hopping on a plane with your mum and dad or kids to go on holidays to faraway lands.

But for the royals, this is another thing they have to carefully think about before boarding a flight.

Royal tradition apparently states that Prince Charles and Prince William should never get on the same plane together.

And it's for quite a sad reason. Should the plane crash - which, thankfully, is unlikely given the safety of modern planes - the monarchy would lose two heirs to the throne at the same time.


The unofficial rule should technically also apply to Prince William and his five-year-old son, Prince George, who is third in line to the throne.

But William has flown with his whole family on many occasions, including on royal trips to Canada, Germany and Poland.

In 2014, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took baby George on a flight with them all the way to Australia.

It's thought the tradition dates back to the early days of air travel, when flights weren't deemed as safe, but the Queen has relaxed the rule in recent years.

Monarchs and their heirs were not allowed to make journeys in planes together in case a tragic accident wiped out the royal lineage.

A royal spokesman said in 2014: "While there is no official rule on this, it is something that the Queen has the final say on."

Prince Charles is the heir apparent to the throne, while William is second in line and his children, George, Charlotte and Louis, are third, fourth and fifth.

Prince Harry is sixth in line to the throne and his unborn child, due in Spring 2019, will be seventh - bumping Prince Andrew down to eighth place.

The royals don't just fly about in private jets. William and Kate have been known to skip them in favour of commercial airlines.

In 2016 the Duchess of Cambridge boarded a British Airways plane for a flight to Rotterdam on an official trip.

And down-to-earth Will was spotted on a Ryanair flight to Glasgow the year before.

You're not likely to bump into the Queen on a WizzAir plane, though, as she no longer uses commercial airlines.

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