The Real Reason The Queen Doesn't Need A Passport To Travel
Queen Elizabeth II gets to enjoy a lot of interesting perks as the reigning monarch. Traveling without even needing to show a passport is just one benefit of being the queen. She's actually the only member of the British royal family that gets to take a pass on having this essential travel document. And as the official royal website points out, the reasoning behind this is very simple. Every British passport is issued in the queen's name so she doesn't need to have one herself.
The first page inside any British passport reads: "Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance." So for Prince Charles, his passport basically means my mom says that I can go. And even when her late husband, Prince Philip, was alive, he needed a passport as well.
Lots of rules don't apply to Queen Elizabeth
No passport for the queen doesn't mean she can just stroll through international borders without a care. She does have to identify herself when she goes through immigration, according to Hello magazine. Queen Elizabeth has to give several key pieces of information to the authorities, including her name, age, address, and place of birth. But wherever she goes, she's the only royal who doesn't travel on commercial airlines. The rest of the family has been known to fly on regular flights, and they're big fans of British Airways.
Queen Elizabeth also gets to skip another form of identification as well. While there are numerous photos of her driving around, she doesn't actually have a license, according to Travel and Leisure. And it's the same principle at work as with her passport: the driver's licenses are issued in the name of the queen so she doesn't need one. In fact, she doesn't even need license plates.
The best perk for Queen Elizabeth, however, may be that she is, essentially, legally untouchable. According to the official royal website, she cannot be sued as a person under the law. She is immune from both criminal and civil prosecution.