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Kate Middleton flies commercial, Surprises fellow passengers

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Updated on July 6, 2023

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The Duchess of Cambridge completed her first solo tour since marrying into the royal family yesterday, marking a professional milestone. Kate has done several public appearances and engagements on her own in the United Kingdom, but this was her first trip overseas.

She didn’t go home to her husband, Prince William, and two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, in a beautiful private jet after the trip. Middleton, like every other traveler, boarded a British Airways aircraft.

Kate, 34, was dressed in a handmade ‘vintage style’ pale blue skirt suit by French-born fashion designer Catherine Walker as she boarded the 7.15pm British Airways aircraft from the Netherlands.

Middleton has a personal connection to British Airways. Carole Middleton, Kate’s mother, used to work for the airlines as a flight attendant before meeting Kate’s father, Michael.

Middleton’s flightmates were “shocked,” when she boarded, according to the New Zealand Herald.

While her travel plans may have surprised some on board yesterday, it’s not the first time the younger generation of royals has flown commercial—she and Prince William went from Los Angeles to London in first-class among the commoners in 2011. In 2014, Prince William flew commercial from New York to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Barack Obama.

On Tuesday, the Duchess spent the day in the Netherlands, meeting King Willem-Alexander and touring the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, which is home to the famed “Girl With the Pearl Earring.”

Hundreds of people cheered the duchess, who studied art history at university, as she walked along the street outside the museum. Kate paused outside the museum to converse with flag-waving local students before entering the ancient building next to the Dutch Parliament complex, dressed in a pale blue suit and what looked to be pearl earrings for her visit to the home of Vermeer’s masterpiece.

Kate was accompanied by her husband and children on the Royal Tour of Canada in late September, prior to her travel to the Netherlands.

Kate’s visit occurred only one day after British Prime Minister Theresa May met with her Dutch colleague Mark Rutte to discuss the UK’s exit from the European Union.