THE QUEEN TO HAVE HER OWN JET

The Queen is to have her own £3million private jet under plans to cut the royal family’s travel costs.
The plane would be used only by the Queen and other royals and would not be shared with ministers.
Currently, the royal family uses two planes from 32 Squadron at RAF Northolt but they are more than 20 years old and are deemed too unreliable.
In the last 12 months alone, the royals have had to spend £193,000 chartering aircraft because the RAF planes had either broken down or were being used elsewhere.
Sir Alan Reid, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, and other senior officials at Buckingham Palace will now consider whether it is financially viable to buy an aircraft.
A final decision is expected to be made next March.
A source was quoted as saying: 'The Queen is naturally thrifty so we always try to reduce our running costs. The planes from 32 Squadron are not always available as ministers may need them at short notice and they have an operational role in the Middle East.'
The cost of purchasing a secondhand BAe jet is approximately £3million.
Last year the royal family travelled 137,000 miles on 18 scheduled flights and made another 21 flights on charter aircraft.
The travel bill for 2008 was £6.5million compared to £4.5million three years earlier.