DUKES ON THE TRAIN: THIS WAS THE START OF THE JOURNEY OF KATE MIDDLETON AND PRINCE WILLIAM ON BOARD THE ROYAL TRAIN
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have left Euston Station for their three-day tour of the UK, leaving a handwritten message of support for the station workers.
Kate Middleton and Prince William are already on board the Royal Train, the Crown train with which they will travel the United Kingdom for three days. It is the first official journey of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Queen Elizabeth II's favorite mode of transport. A very special occasion for the Duchess of Cambridge, who had not yet been formally invited onto a train normally reserved for top-of-the-line royals. The Duke and Duchess were greeted with Christmas songs at Euston Station in central London, where they also chatted with railway workers, giving them a message of encouragement and support, handwritten on one of the station boards.
For such a special occasion, Kate opted for a forest green Alexander McQueen coat, which debuted in early 2020, and a tartan scarf that debuted in Canada four years ago. And she was carrying her new favorite bag, Grace Han, released just over a month ago. Since she was Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton had never been invited to board the Royal Train, a luxurious convoy with Valencian locomotives. A privilege that Meghan Markle did have, when the queen invited her to accompany her on a journey in the summer of 2018.
Prince William does know, unfortunately, what it is to travel on board: although Harry and he enjoyed trips on board on several occasions, together with their parents or grandparents, in 1997 he moved from London to Northamptonshire for the worst of the events: the funeral of his mother, Diana of Wales. Although, as adult royals, neither he nor his brother Harry have officially been among the users of the train, which the queen is especially fond of. Normally, the use of the train is reserved for the queen, the most assiduous user (she used to travel once a month in pre-Covidian times) and Felipe of Edinburgh; or Carlos of England (criticized on several occasions for very short trips of 30,000 euros upwards, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
But this time, Kate can be proud: the dukes have slept on board the train, they will travel the whole of the UK on board for three days and will make the longest journey in the last decade, in the only means of transport left to him. the Crown (the queen has her own private plane, but in a personal capacity). A use that possibly also appeases critics of the train, whose maintenance is close to a million euros a year by the public purse, something that has even been criticized in Parliament on occasion.
The tour, apart from justifying the cost of the train in a year without trips, aims to express the family's support for the most decisive groups during the pandemic. Something that the dukes began by leading by example: they left a handwritten message, signed by both of them, on one of the characteristic notice boards at Euston Station.
"Thank you to all the transportation workers for keeping the country going during this difficult year. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! William & Catherine."
It is the last gesture before the end of the year for the dukes, who are very active against the pandemic (in the spring, for example, we learned that Kate Middleton had volunteered in a service of escort calls to lonely confined retirees). And also the example that the Queen and the Prince of Wales give young royals - who take less risk these days - an increasingly regal role.
