Try as they might to give their three children as normal a childhood as possible, Kate Middleton and Prince William are all too aware that they're raising the future king of England. With that responsibility comes making tough decisions and following a lot of royal protocol, which includes one rule that may affect George in a big way soon. William and George will no longer be able to travel together — unless, of course, King Charles decides to make a major change.
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Royals who are in direct line for the throne aren't supposed to travel together.
It's morbid, but at the same time, this piece of royal protocol is also necessary. Should something horrible happen while George and William are traveling together, England would lose the next two royals in line for the throne, so traveling separately is thought to protect the line of succession and the future of the monarchy.
This isn't a rule that Will and Kate have followed so far, though.
With George being so young, Prince William has been given permission to travel with his wife and three children. But George is getting older — this year, the future king turned 11 — and some royal experts believe that, starting when he's 12 years old, he or William will need to travel separately from the rest of the family when they would normally be able to travel together.
Apparently, 12 is the age when the rule went into effect for a young William, too.
According to what Graham Laurie, Charles' former pilot, said on A Right Royal Podcast, William began flying separately from his dad around the time he turned 12.
"Interestingly, we flew all four: the Prince [Charles], the Princess [Diana], Prince William and Prince Harry, up until Prince William was 12 years old," Laurie said via The Sun.
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William flew 'in a separate aircraft' once he was 12.
If the family wanted to travel together any differently, Laurie said that would require "the written permission of Her Majesty" Queen Elizabeth.
This meant that William would fly on his own on one plane, while Charles, Diana, and Harry would fly on another.
There's no official word on what will happen when George turns 12 next year.
After all, 12 is still very young, and it's not like George would be totally by himself; of course, he'd travel with security detail, and Will could always be the one to opt to travel on his own.
It won't be long before we find out — George will hit the milestone age in less than one year!
