An airline has poked fun at Prince Harry after he claimed Meghan Markle bought a first-class ticket for her dad Thomas so he could avoid press intrusion.
Mr Markle was travelling from Mexico to the UK when Harry claimed his wife bought the premium plane tickets. In his new memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex alleged that the Duchess had purchased a ticket for her father through Air New Zealand, adding that it was 'first class, booked and paid for by Meg'.
Detailing the incident, Prince Harry recalled: "We told him, leave Mexico right now: A whole new level of harassment is about to rain down on you, so come to Britain. Now."
Read more: Prince William asked about Prince Harry's memoir Spare moments after arriving in North West
Air New Zealand has now denied that Thomas could have flown first from Mexico to the UK through their airline, claiming that such a flight doesn't even exist, reports the Mirror. Speaking with the New Zealand Herald, Air New Zealand gave the following statement: "We've never had flights between Mexico and the UK. And we only have Business Premier."
The airline has now made a savage dig at Harry and Meghan via its Twitter account, with a tweet taking aim at the alleged inaccuracy. The tweet reads as follows: "Introducing #SussexClass. Apparently coming soon."
Responses to the tweet were mixed. While some declared they 'loved' the dig, making numerous puns about 'spare' seats, others regarded it as simply 'petty'. One person responded: "Wow, I had a really good impression of Air New Zealand until seeing this. Surprisingly petty. Gross."
Another commented: "How unprofessional." A third joked: "And the amenities bag includes a tube of Elizabeth Arden cream. Oh yes, and an extra spare."
Another report in Stuff NZ came out in defence of Prince Harry's version of events, remarking that, up until the coronavirus pandemic, Air New Zealand used to run flights between Los Angeles and London. As reported by this publication, the Duchess of Sussex could well have booked tickets through Air New Zealand from Mexico to London, with United Airlines (Air New Zealand’s Star Alliance partner) taking Thomas from Mexico to LA, where Air New Zealand would have then taken him onwards to Britain.
Therefore, this journey could have been booked through Air New Zealand, while appearing to be the same airline throughout. When it comes to the confusion over the 'first class' part of the booking, Stuff NZ noted that Meghan may well have booked the 'Business Premier' option, which sounds like a premium version of Business, or something comparable to first class.
Buckingham and Kensington Palaces have refused to comment on the contents of Harry's book, which hit the shelves on Tuesday.
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