The Duchess of Cambridge reached a professional milestone yesterday, completing her first solo tour since marrying into the royal family. Kate of course has made many public appearances and engagements on her own in the U.K., but this was her first time traveling abroad to do so. On her visit to the Netherlands she met with the king, and took a gander at some art, and participated in a panel, and otherwise all seemed to go according to plan.

 

But, after the trip was complete, she returned back to London in a, well, slightly less royal manner, as rather than airlifted via hundreds of hummingbirds on a velvet lounge chair, as we would have imagined, Kate in fact took a 7:15 P.M. British Airways flight from the Netherlands back to London. Yes, that’s right: the Duchess flew commercial. She was seen boarding the flight, still wearing the same Catherine Walker skirt suit she had worn for the day’s appearances.

 

Now, Prince William has been spotted flying commercial (in coach!) before, so this isn’t altogether shocking, perhaps. But it’s still kind of amusing to imagine Kate scrolling blithely on her phone as she stands on one of those moving walkways, Kate waiting in line to buy gum and a neck pillow behind some businessmen, maybe grabbing a quick Chardonnay at the airport Chili’s bar.

 

According to the Daily Mail, those already on the aircraft were “shocked to see the Duchess board at the last minute” and many of them were seen “excitedly taking pictures of her on their mobile phones” as she took her seat on the flight.

 

“She was escorted onto the plane by bodyguards and her team ahead of the 50-minute flight. One source said he had ‘never seen so many iPhones pop up at once,’ as passengers scrambled to get a photograph of the Duchess.”

 

Of course, Kate isn’t exactly like us. The Daily Mail reports that, upon landing, she was taken off the flight and escorted to the car waiting for her on the tarmac before any of the other passengers were allowed to get off the plane.