The financial abilities of most people in the world do not allow them to travel business class when flying. But at least passengers that have traveled on Dutch KLM, either economy or business class, can now claim they had a true blue-blood in the cockpit flying them around. The King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander has been living a “double life”, as the royal has for 21 years been ferrying around passengers on short-haul services for the commercial airliner. Although travellers may have recognised the monarch’s voice as he updated them on weather conditions and their time of arrival, the royal’s presence was never revealed. The 50-year-old royal described his casual flights as a “hobby” – and said occasionally being able to leave his royal duties behind to concentrate on flying was “relaxing”.
The father-of-three says he has no plans to learn how to fly a bigger aircraft, as flights which involve an overnight stop mean he “cannot get back in time to the Netherlands in case of an emergency”. On staying incognito, he told De Telegraaf newspaper: “The advantage is that I can always say I am speaking on behalf of the captain and crew to welcome them on board, so I don’t have to say my name.

with info from news.sky.com