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- Queen Elizabeth had a list of lavish in-flight demands when she traveled.
- Requests ranged from specific sweets she preferred on hand to her sleeping arrangements.
- Pieces of memorabilia from a 1989 British Airlines flight Elizabeth took went up for auction in August 2024.
Queen Elizabeth visited more than 115 countries over the course of her life, racking up quite the air miles. When it came to stamping her frequent flyer card, let’s just say her in-flight conditions were fit for, well, a queen.
In August 2024, select pieces of memorabilia from a British Airlines flight that Elizabeth took went up for auction at Hansons Auctioneers, per People. The vintage treasures offered a glimpse into the late monarch’s lavish royal travel habits.
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The items came from the personal collection of Jo Smallwood, who inherited the trinkets from her aunt, Elizabeth Evans, a member of the cabin crew on Elizabeth’s flight. Per Hansons, the items came from a 1989 flight from the late monarch’s tour of Singapore and Malaysia, and were expected to fetch between £400 to £600.
The items showed that Elizabeth liked to “have a bowl of Velva mints at hand and in her dressing room” and often enjoyed a martini “before her guests arrive[d].” Other details from the items showed that Elizabeth preferred to bring her own pillows and wanted her bed made before the flight—and if she was asleep as the plane landed, she wasn’t to be disturbed.
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Elizabeth wasn’t the only A-lister Evans serviced during her 28-year career with British Airways. The auction also included items from Rod Stewart, Patrick Swayze, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Smallwood discovered the memorabilia when she was arranging her aunt’s funeral in South Africa; she said she was surprised at the sheer amount of things that her aunt kept.
“I was aware of some of the things Elizabeth had kept from her career with BA but nothing on this scale,” Smallwood said at the time. “Having found this treasure trove relating to my aunt’s career and experiences with BA, especially the fantastic trips on Concorde and serving the queen, I found it sad that none of it had seen the light of day. I believe this collection is a little piece of history that should be shared and enjoyed by somebody.”
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Charles Hanson, the owner of Hansons Auctioneers, noted that the auction items were very special, not only because of their royal connection, but because they showed the career of a woman so clearly dedicated to service.
“Elizabeth was clearly highly regarded by BA, because she served some of the most important people in the world. Take that 1989 British Airways royal flight,” he said. “Her memorabilia includes confidential instructions on how to care for our late queen and Prince Philip—right down to the sweets her majesty preferred on take-off.”