Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Queen Elizabeth II gets on the train at King's Cross
Queen Elizabeth II waits for her First Capital Connect train to depart from King's Cross Station. Photograph: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II waits for her First Capital Connect train to depart from King's Cross Station. Photograph: Getty Images

Queen lets the train take the strain on way to Sandringham

This article is more than 14 years old
Queen pays £44.40 for off-peak single to take her on Christmas break

It is tempting to speculate what the Queen was thinking as she gazed out of the window on the 10.45 to King's Lynn today. Perhaps she was musing over the weather; maybe she was contemplating First Capital Connect's dire punctuality record. She could conceivably have been thinking what a nifty postage stamp the shot would make.

But Buckingham Palace insisted Her Majesty would not have been vexed by the prospect of travelling on an ordinary train as she made her way to Sandringham for Christmas. "The Queen has been taking scheduled trains throughout her reign; this time last year she did the exact same journey, just without the photographers," said a Palace spokesman.

Though she paid for a ticket just like the rest of us – an off-peak first class single for £44.40, according to aides – she did get a few special perks. A whole carriage was reserved for the royal party, and she was presented with a posy as she climbed aboard. The Duke of Edinburgh was not with her, having already travelled ahead to the Norfolk estate.

Royal sources insisted it wasn't a publicity stunt to flaunt the Queen's green credentials. A car would not be following the train with all her belongings, a la David Cameron, they said.

The Queen arrived at King's Cross with little fuss 10 minutes before the scheduled train departed at 10.45am. Dressed in a coloured headscarf and a large winter coat, she walked down the platform to reach her carriage, unnoticed by most other rail users.

The royal train is available to the Queen but she has used scheduled services over the years.

Last month she boarded an everyday train to travel to Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire and in 2007 took another regular service to Milton Keynes for an engagement.

Most viewed

Most viewed