The Queen's helicopter 'grounded' after 'inflight emergency' en route to Balmoral

The Queen's helicopter was forced to make a u-turn after it suffered an 'inflight emergency'.

• The Queen's royal helicopter was forced to abort its journey following an 'inflight emergency'.
• Her Majesty's Sikorsky S-76 aircraft was on its way to collect Princess Anne when its crew made the U-turn back to base.
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as Prince William and Kate Middleton are ‘seriously considering’ a move to Windsor for this heartbreaking reason (opens in new tab).

The Queen's royal helicopter had to be 'grounded' after it suffered an 'inflight emergency' - according to reports.

Just minutes after setting off from Newcastle Airport, the aircraft, which was en route to pick up Princess Anne from Balmoral, suffered a technical problem and had to be 'grounded'.

Pilots were forced to abort the trip to the Scottish highlands where Princess Royal had been staying with her mother the Queen - and is among the expected guests. But her Majesty has also invited some unlikely guests (opens in new tab) to spend part of the summer break with her.

Her Majesty arrived in her favourite holiday home last month, to embark on what is the first holiday without her husband Prince Philip (opens in new tab). But it was during Princess Anne's stay that the aircraft experienced technical difficulties.

A royal source told the Sun, "A safety-first approach was taken and it was flown back immediately for the technical fault to be fixed.

"There were no members of the royal family on the helicopter. Luckily, there was plenty of time to find alternative travel arrangements."

Reports claimed the fault was still being fixed 24 hours later, meanwhile, Princess Anne had to catch another helicopter to attend three engagements in the Scottish town of Oban.

It comes after Princess Anne was mistaken for Tom Cruise (opens in new tab) earlier this year when her helicopter landed at a North Yorkshire sports center.

The chopper, which experienced technical difficulties at the start of the 200-mile round trip, is one regularly used by members of the royal family, from the Queen and Prince Charles to Prince William and Kate.

The monarch owns the royal helicopter outright, but they also have access to other aircraft, trains, and cars for official visits.

But the running costs of the helicopter aren't cheap and its expense was detailed in the financial report ranging from April 2020 to March 2021.

In its travel appendix, a total of 47 helicopter journeys were made, and these were grouped together, as they did not cost more than £15,000 individually.

The total cost of the use of the royal helicopters over the past financial year amounted to £669,149, the report read.

You can watch the royal helicopter land at Kensington Palace in the clip below in which Princess Anne is believed to have departed the helicopter back in 2014...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIOT0JaDT4g

The royal family has come under fire in recent years over their use of private modes of transport - with Prince William and Kate taking the royal train last year for their whistle-stop of the UK during the Coronavirus pandemic.