Prince and Princess of Wales take a commercial flight to Boston
BOSTON - On a commercial flight from London Heathrow into Boston, passengers got a glimpse of the Prince and Princess of Wales in first class Wednesday.
"Surprising ... you assume they'd have a private jet," said passenger Jo Atkins.
However, Prince William and Princess Catherine took a commercial flight to the Earthshot Prize Awards. The flight crew described the couple as "utterly delightful."
"Well look, they're coming for Earthshot. It's an environmental thing, right, so being on a commercial flight makes sense," passenger Luke Howard said.
While the royal couple and their entourage took up most of first class, word quickly spread in the cabin about who was on board.
"As soon as people saw them get on you could tell there was a buzz on the airplane," said passenger Jonathan Wood.
Brent Suttles sat just two rows behind Prince William and was able to snap a few photos from his seat.
"It was certainly a surprise. You do a double take to see if you really see who you think you see," Suttles said.
"He's a lot slimmer... can I say that? He's very slight. She's beautiful, obviously, as one would expect.. I didn't expect that getting on the plane," Atkins said.
Others said they didn't notice they were sharing the seven-plus hour flight with royalty until the plane and they were greeted by a dozen state police cruisers. Passengers had to wait while the prince and princess left the plane.
"It was a wild experience, but it was great," Wood said.
Passengers said the royal couple was low-key and pleasant, talking to some of the passengers in first class about why they were in Boston.