How Do the Queen and Royal Family Travel Abroad?

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stand with Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William at Westminster Abbey for a Commonwealth Day service in London, Britain March 11, 2019. (Reuters)
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stand with Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William at Westminster Abbey for a Commonwealth Day service in London, Britain March 11, 2019. (Reuters)
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How Do the Queen and Royal Family Travel Abroad?

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stand with Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William at Westminster Abbey for a Commonwealth Day service in London, Britain March 11, 2019. (Reuters)
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stand with Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William at Westminster Abbey for a Commonwealth Day service in London, Britain March 11, 2019. (Reuters)

It's no surprise that members of the British royal family are among the world's most well-traveled individuals. They frequently jet overseas on official business, and are also no strangers to holidaying in far-flung, and, of course, secluded destinations.

Sometimes, this is by private plane, but the Queen's relatives have also been spotted on budget airlines, scheduled trains, and behind the wheel themselves, reported the Town & Country website.

Travel arrangements for official visits are determined by the Royal Travel Office, which takes into account security, cost and logistics before coming up with a plan.

Sometimes, this involves a charter plane which allows royals and their entourage to more easily stop off in multiple countries or islands, such as when Prince Charles and Camilla visited Cuba and the Caribbean earlier this year.

For that trip, which cost £416,576 (roughly $506,286), Prince Charles used the UK ministerial jet, the Royal Air Force's VIP Voyager, which is available to royals and British government officials.

For other visits, commercial flights are deemed more appropriate, like when Prince Harry and Meghan traveled first class with Qantas for their tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2018.

During this trip they also used a charter plane, which cost £81,002 (roughly $98,444) to travel to Fiji and Tonga.

Usually, the British public pick up the bill for official overseas travel except when the royals are visiting Commonwealth Realms (countries where the Queen is also Head of State), in which case the host country pays. While off-duty members of the royal family have been known to use both private planes and budget airlines.

Prince William and Kate, for example, have borrowed the private jet belonging to the Duke of Westminster for family vacations in Europe. When they holiday on the Caribbean island Mustique, they usually travel first class with British Airways to St. Lucia before taking another 30 minute flight to the private island. However, the couple has also been spotted on the budget airline EasyJet while heading on a skiing break.

Harry and Meghan were also seen sitting in economy on a scheduled British Airways flight to Nice in December 2017 en route to ring in the New Year. However, they have also both used private jets, with Harry recently taking one to Google's Climate Change summit and Meghan returning from her baby shower in New York on one.

No one covering Prince Harry and Meghan's trip to Cardiff in January 2018 could forget the stormy look on Harry's face when he stepped out of the car an hour late thanks to a train delay. The couple had boarded the first class carriage of a regular rail service from London Paddington that morning but found themselves held up when the train was moved to a slower track.

Other regular train journeys have gone more smoothly and the young royals in particular often choose this mode of transport, especially to visit major cities.

The Queen also uses a regular train service every year to start her Christmas break at Sandringham, boarding at London's King's Cross and disembarking at Norfolk's King's Lynn station. This all appears pretty frugal; however, there is also the small matter of the Royal Train, which is still occasionally used by members of the family.

Regulations permit the royals to use public funds to travel from residence to residence, trips they often make by helicopter. The Queen's Helicopter Flight currently has two helicopters in operation, which are based at RAF Odiham.



Thieves Drill into a German Bank Vault and Steal Tens of Millions of Euros Worth of Property

 Police officers stand in front of the savings bank branch in the Buer district in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 following a break-in into the bank's vault. (Christoph Reichwein/dpa via AP)
Police officers stand in front of the savings bank branch in the Buer district in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 following a break-in into the bank's vault. (Christoph Reichwein/dpa via AP)
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Thieves Drill into a German Bank Vault and Steal Tens of Millions of Euros Worth of Property

 Police officers stand in front of the savings bank branch in the Buer district in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 following a break-in into the bank's vault. (Christoph Reichwein/dpa via AP)
Police officers stand in front of the savings bank branch in the Buer district in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 following a break-in into the bank's vault. (Christoph Reichwein/dpa via AP)

Thieves stole tens of millions of euros worth of property from safety deposit boxes inside a German bank vault that they drilled into Monday during the holiday lull, police said.

Some 2,700 bank customers were affected by the theft in Gelsenkirchen, police and the Sparkasse bank said.

Thomas Nowaczyk, a police spokesperson, said investigators believe the theft was worth between 10 and 90 million euros ($11.7 to 105.7 million).

German news agency dpa reported that the theft could be one of Germany's largest heists.

The bank remained closed Tuesday, when some 200 people showed up demanding to get inside, dpa reported.

A fire alarm summoned police officers and firefighters to the bank branch shortly before 4 a.m. Monday. They found a hole in the wall and the vault ransacked. Police believe a large drill was used to break through the vault's basement wall.

Witnesses told investigators they saw several men carrying large bags in a nearby parking garage over the weekend. Video footage from the garage shows masked people inside a stolen vehicle early Monday, police said.

Gelsenkirchen is about 192 kilometers (119 miles) northwest of Frankfurt.


The Year's First Meteor Shower and Supermoon Clash in January Skies

People look up to the sky from an observatory near the village of Avren, Bulgaria, Aug. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov, File)
People look up to the sky from an observatory near the village of Avren, Bulgaria, Aug. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov, File)
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The Year's First Meteor Shower and Supermoon Clash in January Skies

People look up to the sky from an observatory near the village of Avren, Bulgaria, Aug. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov, File)
People look up to the sky from an observatory near the village of Avren, Bulgaria, Aug. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov, File)

The year's first supermoon and meteor shower will sync up in January skies, but the light from one may dim the other.

The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday night into Saturday morning, according to the American Meteor Society. In dark skies during the peak, skygazers typically see around 25 meteors per hour, but this time they'll likely glimpse less than 10 per hour due to light from Saturday's supermoon, The AP news reported.

“The biggest enemy of enjoying a meteor shower is the full moon,” said Mike Shanahan, planetarium director at Liberty Science Center in New Jersey.

Meteor showers happen when speedy space rocks collide with Earth’s atmosphere, burning up and leaving fiery tails in their wake — the end of a “shooting star.” A handful of meteors are visible on any given night, but predictable showers appear annually when Earth passes through dense streams of cosmic debris.

Supermoons occur when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes it appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA. That difference can be tough to notice with the naked eye.

Supermoons, like all full moons, are visible in clear skies everywhere that it's night. The Quadrantids, on the other hand, can be seen mainly from the Northern Hemisphere. Both can be glimpsed without any special equipment.

To spot the Quadrantids, venture out in the early evening away from city lights and watch for fireballs before the moon crashes the party, said Jacque Benitez with the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences. Skygazers can also try looking during early dawn hours on Sunday.

Wait for your eyes to get used to the darkness, and don’t look at your phone. The space rocks will look like fast-moving white dots and appear over the whole sky.

Meteor showers are named for the constellation where the fireballs appear to come from. The Quadrantids — space debris from the asteroid 2003 EH1 — are named for a constellation that's no longer recognized.

The next major meteor shower, called the Lyrids, is slotted for April.

Supermoons happen a few times a year and come in groups, taking advantage of the sweet spot in the moon’s elliptical orbit. Saturday night’s event ends a four-month streak that started in October. There won't be another supermoon until the end of 2026.


New Maritime Theater in Jazan to Host the City's Festival Opening

The site also includes various amenities, such as shopping zones, kiosks for dining, an art gallery - SPA
The site also includes various amenities, such as shopping zones, kiosks for dining, an art gallery - SPA
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New Maritime Theater in Jazan to Host the City's Festival Opening

The site also includes various amenities, such as shopping zones, kiosks for dining, an art gallery - SPA
The site also includes various amenities, such as shopping zones, kiosks for dining, an art gallery - SPA

The Jazan city theater on the southern corniche will host the opening ceremony of the Jazan Festival 2026 on Friday. This event will take place at a 35-square-kilometer site that features the Kingdom's largest maritime theater, SPA reported.

The theater accommodates more than 10,000 spectators and features five VIP areas. To ensure a smooth experience, the venue offers parking for over 9,000 vehicles, providing easy access during peak times.

Built specifically for the festival, the stage meets stringent safety and technical standards, providing a high-quality audiovisual experience against the stunning backdrop of the Red Sea.

The site also includes various amenities, such as shopping zones, kiosks for dining, an art gallery, a play area for children, a bird garden, and a regional museum, showcasing the region's history and culture.

This temporary maritime theater aims to provide a cohesive experience, integrating entertainment, culture, shopping, and services in one location, further establishing Jazan as a year-round destination for tourism and entertainment.