Prince George to be separated from Prince William when he turns 12 this month due to royal tradition
Prince George may well not be looking forward to his 12th birthday on 22 July, as it means a royal tradition will come into place.
The eldest child of Will and Kate is approaching his teenage years and has grown up in the public eye, notably acting as the unimpressed older brother to Louis when the younger royal was full of mischief at the Trooping the Colour celebrations last year.
George loves spending time with his dad at sporting events, even if some people don't agree with his outfit choices at Wimbledon, while he also seems to have adopted his dad's love for Aston Villa.
However, in less than two weeks time, the duo will soon have to start travelling separately wherever they go, due to a historic custom which has long been followed by the Royal Family.
Advert
Once the second person in line to inherit the throne turns 12, they must travel separately to the current heir when undertaking any royal duties, as anyone over 12 years old in the line of succession cannot travel together.
This ensures that, in the tragic event that one was in an accident, the other would presumably be safe, unless they're really very unlucky.
It seems that he won't be able to travel alongside his younger siblings Louis and Charlotte either, which will make the family travel games of Uno slightly trickier.
While it might seem morbid to some of you, or even a blessing if your kids are particularly noisy in car rides, the royals don't do this without good reason.
After all, we saw William and Harry's mother Princess Diana die in a car crash in 1997, while Prince Philip's sister Princess Cecilie also died in an air accident in 1937.
Queen Elizabeth II's uncle Prince George was killed in a plane crash in 1942, as was her cousin Prince William of Gloucester in 1972, so they certainly have a tainted history when it comes to travel accidents, and it's best to err on the side of caution when looking after the country's future kings.
Recalling the arrangements in an interview with OK! Magazine, King Charles's former pilot, Graham Laurie said: "We flew all four: the Prince, the Princess, Prince William and Prince Harry, up until Prince William was 12 years old.
"After that, he had to have a separate aircraft and we could only fly all four together when they were young with the written permission of Her Majesty.
"When William became 12, he would fly normally in a 125 from Northolt and we would fly the 146 out with the other three on."
Topics: Prince George, Royal Family, Travel, Prince William
James Moorhouse