Senior royals faced hour-long delay as they raced to be with dying Queen

Senior royals missed the chance to say goodbye to The Queen after their plane was held on the ground as they raced to Balmoral.

Senior members of the royal family were delayed an hour as they raced frantically to see the dying Queen.

An RAF jet carrying Prince William, his uncles Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and his wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, was scheduled to leave at 1.30pm - but it didn’t take off until 2.39pm.

The royals were on board the flight, so the reason for the delay is unclear. They eventually landed at 3.55pm and then had to drive an hour to Balmoral Castle.

The exact time the Queen died is not known, but UK Prime Minister Liz Truss was told the news at 4.30pm. Only Prince Charles and Princess Anne, who were already in Scotland, managed to get to The Queen before she died.

A plane carrying members of the royal family arrives in Scotland. Picture: Supplied

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (driving), Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Sophie, Countess of Wessex (unseen) and Edward, Earl of Wessex arrive to see Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral Castle. Picture: Getty

Prince Harry made his own way from London, which initially appeared as a snub, but constitutional experts have suggested palace aides likely planned it that way in case the plane crashed.

“There is a strong constitutional reason that William and Harry do not fly together — and that is to do with the line of succession,” constitutional expert and royal author Brian Hoey said.

“Royal aides have to consider everything, and this is very likely to have been a factor.

“While events happened very quickly, they have had years to plan for all eventualities. The speed of events caught everyone off-guard and could have affected travel plans — but it still would have been unwise for William and Harry to fly together,” he told The Sun on Sunday.

Mr Hoey said he doubted the brothers would fly together again “for constitutional reasons”.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex boards a flight at Aberdeen Airport the day after The Queen died. Picture: Getty

The plane delay mystery comes as more details emerge of the flurry of activity at Balmoral during the last 24 hours of The Queen’s life.

On Wednesday evening, doctors advised her to rest and she pulled out of the virtual meeting of the Privy Council at 6pm. Less than four hours later, the RAF plane that would take the royals to Balmoral landed at RAF Northolt, in west London.

A source said it was made available should it be needed to rush family members north.

“This was a commonsense move and meant it would be on standby if senior royals needed to move at short notice,” the source said.

Originally published as Senior royals faced hour-long delay as they raced to be with dying Queen