Prince William and Prince George were seen arriving by helicopter in the snow in footage that went viral on social media, demonstrating their apparent swerving of an old royal safety rule.
The Prince of Wales, his older son and his daughter, Princess Charlotte, could all be seen climbing out of the royal helicopter together in the clip, which Newsweek is not reproducing out of respect for the children’s privacy.
The public perception, supported by former staff, has always been that royal rules barred two direct heirs from flying in the same aircraft, though the reality of royal rules can change over time.
The rule is designed to allay fears of the worst-case scenario that an aircraft would come down, threatening the lives of two generations at the same time.
Newsweek has contacted Kensington Palace for comment.
William and his wife, Kate, appear to have jettisoned the rule, and security expert Alex Bomberg, a former Kensington Palace aide to the Duke of Gloucester, believes he has identified the reason why.
“The trouble is, we’re also now living in an era where they’re going to get criticized if they’re using two modes of transport, two helicopters,” Bomberg, the chief executive of the private security firm Intelligent Protection International, told Newsweek.
“That is going to be the problem. William is conscious of public perception. Are we seeing an end to that rule? I don’t know, but it is interesting to see them flying together.”
William and Kate have done much to try to modernize the royal family, but this particular rule is a highly charged one. William—who lost his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash in Paris when he was 15—knows better than most that the seemingly unthinkable can happen.
Heavy snow can be tricky for helicopter pilots because of whiteouts, where it becomes difficult to distinguish between land and sky. It is worth noting that the snow in southern England on the day in question was fairly light and did not significantly settle on the ground.
This is not the first time William and George have flown together, but many anticipated the practice would stop once George turned 12 as that was reportedly the age when William stopped flying with King Charles III.
Charles’ former pilot Graham Laurie previously told the Right Royal Podcast, “After that, he had to have a separate aircraft and we could only fly all four together when they were young with the written permission of Her Majesty [Queen Elizabeth II].”
Of course, it is entirely possible William sought the king’s permission to fly with George, but Bomberg may also be right about the threat of a carbon- and cost-driven backlash had the royals used two helicopters.
The palace has two new AgustaWestland AW139s helicopters, which came into use in 2025, and they have already flown enough journeys that they could have gone all the way around the world twice, The Daily Telegraph reported last week.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson issued a statement in response to the article: “Helicopters are a key component of the royal travel plan due to their unique capability to access remote regions of the U.K., which are not otherwise readily served by other modes of transport.
“They also allow members of the Royal family to undertake multiple engagements in a given day.”
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