Helicopter travel is avoided by the monarch, especially in the winter, and he never boards one after dark.
Queen Elizabeth II is apparently concerned about Prince William flying a chopper with his entire family on board, and there is a personal cause for her concern.
The monarch has told “close friends and courtiers that she would like William to stop flying himself, particularly in bad weather, as helicopters are not the safest form of transport,” a source close to her told The Sun earlier this month.
The Duke of Cambridge, who served as a full-time pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance for two years starting in July 2015, regularly flies with his wife Kate Middleton and their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis between his London residence, Kensington Palace, and Norfolk country home, Anmer Hall.
According to a new report in Mail Online, the 95-year-old is particularly anxious about William’s mode of transportation with his family since she is still plagued by the helicopter crash that killed Air Commodore John Blount, the Queen’s Flight Captain, and three others.
The Captain was flying in a Westland Whirlwind that crashed in Newbury, Berkshire, in December 1967 when the tragedy occurred. Metal fatigue in the gearbox was blamed by an inquest investigating the incident.
At the time of the disaster, no member of the royal family was aboard the helicopter. The Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, had lately flown the same plane, which had angered her so much that she refused to consider rotary air travel at all.
She won’t travel in a helicopter again for a long time after that until she was forced to during her Silver Jubilee festivities in 1977. Her ministers advised her that the only safe way to travel to Northern Ireland was via chopper.
She still avoids traveling in them, particularly in the winter, and never boards one after midnight. A source close to the monarch told Richard Eden, “It put her off completely. That’s why she is so worried about William and his family.”
As per Ibtimes, the monarch is expected to share her worries with her grandson when he returns from his Norfolk residence, where he is spending the holidays with Kate and their three children, according to the source.
