Queen: Experts discuss statement about vaccine
This move would leave the Royal Family without a dedicated aircraft for the first time in the Queen‘s 69-year-long reign. Without the Royal Family’s four BAE-146 passenger jets, senior royals carrying out public duties would likely be forced to share Boris Johnson’s RAF Voyager plane – which underwent a controversial £900,000 makeover last year.
Plans to sell off the Queen’s fleet have been reported by a UK newspaper and haven’t been formally announced yet.
They are part of the Ministry of Defence’s Integrated Review, due to be unveiled later this month.
If the cuts go ahead, the Queen will be left with one AW-109 helicopter, normally used for short flights throughout Britain.
This move, reported by the Daily Mail, has been criticised by Labour MP Gareth Thomas, whose Harrow West constituency is close to RAF Northolt, where the fleet has been historically based.
The Queen and Prince Philip during a royal tour (Image: EXPRESS)
Prince Charles arriving in Scotland with Prince William in 1983 (Image: GETTY)
He said: “Ministers need to explain as a matter of urgency how the Queen and Royal Family will be transported to fill crucial royal and Commonwealth responsibilities.”
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee, said: “The selling off of the BAE-146s will leave a gaping void in the RAF’s ability to meet military and civil taskings.
“The BAE-146 is a highly valued versatile aircraft that has served senior members of…
