威廉王子坐經濟艙 被贊“很棒很謙遜”

Prince William, who is in America with Prince Harry to celebrate his friend Guy Pelly's marriage, took the American Air flight from Memphis to Dallas on Sunday. The cost of the trip itself is being met privately by both the princes - Prince William is understood to have changed planes at Dallas Fort Worth to return to the UK.

The photo was taken by US television reporter Eli Ross who was on the flight - he posted the image on Twitter writing: 'I am still amazed #Prince William flies COACH. That's pretty humble/awesome. Who knew?'

On the American Airlines plane he took a window seat and is understood to have ordered water during the 1hour 30 domestic flight. A similar flight was on sale today for £250. Holding his hand luggage he boarded a plane separately to the rest of the passengers in Memphis, surrounded by security officers. The 31-year-old was then photographed at the Dallas airport wearing jeans, a pale blue shirt, white trainers and a baseball cap as he left the American Airlines Admiral Club.

The princes are accompanied round-the-clock by a team of around four taxpayer-funded officers from Scotland Yard’s Royalty Protection Squad. One senior industry source estimated the cost of guarding the princes during their five-day trip would be in the region of $84,000, including business class flights and hotels for all of the officers.

It is not the first time that the royals have tried to save money when attending a wedding. In 2011 passengers were surprised to see Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge settle into seats with the rest of the public after boarding a Flybe jet in Edinburgh for their hour long journey to Manchester following the wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall in Edinburgh. Meanwhile, a hungover Prince Harry chose EasyJet to make his way home to London.

During the recession the Queen urged her family to show restraint and to avoid overt displays of extravagance. When they are on official duties the princes travel in first or business class along with their entourage.據英國《每日郵報》5月6日報道，上週末威廉王子與哈里王子赴美參加好友婚禮，婚禮結束後搭乘美國航空公司飛機經濟艙從孟菲斯前往達拉斯轉機回國，費用由王子自掏腰包。

美國某電視臺記者伊萊·羅斯恰好與威廉同機，他拍下照片併發推特稱：“萬萬沒有想到威廉王子會乘坐經濟艙。天曉得，這是不是很棒很謙遜？”

據介紹，飛機上威廉王子靠窗而坐，全程1.5小時只喝了水。同一航班6日票價爲250英鎊（約2600人民幣）。在孟菲斯，威廉手拉行李箱，在安保人員的護送下與機上乘客分開登機。在達拉斯機場，這位31歲的王子又被拍到身着牛仔褲和淡藍色襯衣，穿着白色球鞋，戴着棒球帽離開美國航空公司俱樂部。

據瞭解，出行期間兩位王子均由4名安保人員24小時全程陪同，這些安保人員來自英國皇家護衛隊，由納稅人出資資助。知情人士估計，他們此次出行5天，包括安保人員飛機票、住宿費等在內的安保費用約8.4萬美元（約52萬元人民幣）。

這並非英國皇室第一次節儉參加婚禮。2011年，威廉王子及凱特王妃在愛丁堡參加完扎拉·菲利普斯婚禮後與普通乘客一同乘坐飛機前往曼徹斯特，令同機乘客驚詫不已。同時，哈里王子搭乘易捷航空返回倫敦。

在經濟低迷時，英國女王曾要求王室成員保持節儉剋制，禁止過分奢侈。但因公出行時，英國王子則與其隨從人員搭乘頭等艙或經濟艙。