『每日邮报』Spain's Queen Sofia gives British Royals a lesson in prudence...

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Spain's Queen Sofia gives British Royals a lesson in prudence... by taking ?13 Ryanair flight to London
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1190295/Spains-Queen-Sofia-gives-British-Royals-lesson-prudence--taking-13-Ryanair-flight-London.html

By Tom Worden and Rebecca English Last updated at 1:08 AM on 03rd June 2009


Spain's Queen Sofia has given the British Royal family a lesson in fiscal responsibility by taking a ?13 budget airline flight to London (file photo)

Queen Sofia of Spain has given the British royals a lesson in costcutting - by taking a ?13 budget airline flight to London.

The 70-year-old monarch flew with low-cost airline Ryanair from Spain to Stansted on Sunday to visit her brother, ex-King Constantine of Greece, who is recovering from heart surgery in a London hospital.

A Spanish royal source said it was 'common practice' for members of the House of Bourbon to fly on scheduled flights and added: 'King Juan Carlos is the only member of the royal family who always travels on military flights.

'Whenever possible the royals use Spanish airlines, but in this case Ryanair was the best option for getting from Santander to London. It may well be first time the royals have used Ryanair.'

Last year, the British Royal Family spent ?6.2million of taxpayers' money on travel for official duties. None, with the exception of one or two of the younger members, has ever taken a budget flight.

The source could not say whether the queen had had to pay any of the extra charges Ryanair imposes for having bags other than hand luggage, or for checking in at the airport rather than online.

Queen Sofia, whose husband, King Juan Carlos, is our Queen's third cousin, originally flew to London to be with her brother, the former King Constantine II of Greece, last Thursday.

She had to return to Spain to attend the country's Armed Forces Day on Sunday but was so keen to be with her brother again that she flew back to London from Santander on Ryanair on Sunday evening.

Her flight left Spain at 5.20pm and arrived on time in Essex two hours later.

She was driven straight to the private Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood, north-west London where her 68-year-old brother, who is godfather to Prince William, had undergone heart surgery.

Constantine was King of Greece from 1964 to 1973 when the monarchy was abolished.

The former king lives in London with his wife Anne-Marie.

The operation was a success and Queen Sofia was due to fly back to Madrid today, although it was not clear which airline she would be using.

Last year the British royal accounts revealed that Charles and Camilla had spent ?316,061 hiring a private jet to take them on an official visit to Uganda and Turkey plus a further ?210,000 on a yacht for their tour of the Caribbean.

The Duke of York racked up a bill of almost ?250,000 visiting the Far East and India and more than ?75,000 travelling to and from Brazil.

When travelling on scheduled flights, senior royals almost always travel business or first class, along with their staff.

Ryanair has been attacked by passengers' groups of late for introducing charges to take luggage on board and even to check in for flights.