Prince William and Princess Kate's "Extravagant" Favorite Getaway Involves Beaches, Candy Crush and Another Royal Who "Likes to Flip the Burgers"
"It's just a really magical place," says Charlotte Griffiths of 'The Mail on Sunday.'
Prince William and Prince George were spotted enjoying an Aston Villa match in Barcelona over the 13-year-old’s recent break from Eton College, and it turns out their trip was planned as an alternative to their usual half-term vacation.
Princess Kate lived in Jordan as a child when her father, Michael Middleton, was a British Airways pilot, and the Waleses have since visited one luxe destination in the country. Speaking in an Instagram Reel for Daily Mail Voices, the Mail on Sunday’s editor-at-large, Charlotte Griffiths, shared some behind-the-scenes details about why the royals were forced to cancel this year’s trip and what they usually do during their sunny getaways.
“They actually decided not to go to Jordan, which is where they usually go at this time of year,” Griffiths said, explaining that due to “conflict in the region,” the family chose to avoid traveling to the Middle East.
George, Louis and Charlotte made silly faces in Jordan as they posed with Prince William in a photo shared on Father's Day 2022.
Jordan is clearly close to William and Kate's hearts. The Wales family featured a family photo from their 2021 trip to Petra, Jordan on their Christmas card that year and included another family snapshot from the vacation in their June 2022 Father's Day photo. Prince William also has formed a friendship with Crown Prince Hussein, the heir to the country's throne, and William and Kate attended his 2023 wedding to Princess Rajwa.
Griffiths shared that when the Waleses travel to the country, they stay at "the most extravagant beach resort that the king of Jordan built."
"It’s sort of a holiday camp, really, complete with chalets," the editor added. "They’re actually private villas or palaces of their own, and the Wales family get one."
Prince William and Crown Prince Hussein are pictured during William's 2018 visit to Jordan.
Staying true to the Middleton family's ties to British Airways, the Wales family travels on BA alongside Kate's parents, and Griffiths shared a surprising tidbit about the Prince of Wales's favorite in-flight entertainment.
"The funniest thing I found out about their plane over—what I hear is that William likes to play Candy Crush for the whole flight," she shared.
In addition to phone games, the Waleses take part in plenty of activities while they're in "magical" Jordan. The private beach the family enjoys "is patrolled by the Royal Naval Force of Jordan," Griffiths shared, with the military presence meaning "they can completely be rest assured that there will be no paparazzi anywhere near."
George, Charlotte and Louis also get the royal treatment from their family friend, with the editor adding that King Abdullah of Jordan "loves putting on barbecues." She added that "much like Prince Philip used to be when he was alive at Balmoral, he likes to flip the burgers himself."
