On Thursday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their annual trek to the Queen's Balmoral estate in Scotland, flying commercially with George, Charlotte, and Louis in tow. But no normal, completely mundane activity goes unanalyzed by the Twittersphere.
Almost immediately, social media erupted with cries of "shade," insinuating that Kate and William had made the decision to fly commercially as a holier than thou gesture to show that they were less bougie than Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who recently came under fire for taking a private jet.
Of course, Piers Morgan was in that mix:
But here's the thing: As explained by royals editor Chris Ship of ITV News, travel arrangements for official royal engagements are booked months in advance — meaning that unless Kate and William somehow predicted Private Jet Gate, the timing of their commercial flight was one big coincidence. (Last time we checked, clairvoyance was not a known trait of the royal family.)
It's also of note that Harry and Meghan — as well as many other members of the royal family — have flown commercially in the past for official royal engagements, so this business about the Cambridges "making a point" doesn't check out. (Especially given that Kate and William have also flown in private jets.)
In case you missed it, earlier this week the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were called "hypocrites" for flying in private jets during a recent vacation to Spain, with many critics wondering aloud why they weren't practicing what they preach in terms of their environmental advocacy.
Elton John, who provided the couple with a jet for transportation to his estate, later cleared the air, tweeting that he made the flight carbon neutral by making the appropriate contribution to the organization Carbon Footprint.
Not everyone got the memo, however, and continued to call out the duke and duchess — all of which prompted friends like stylist Jessica Mulroney and actress Jameela Jamil to come to the pair's defense in scathing social media posts.
The lesson here? In the words of Taylor Swift, you need to calm down.
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