A packed British Airways flight from Italy was held up for nearly four hours after three Qatari princesses refused to sit next to men they did not know.
Dozens of British holidaymakers had to wait patiently while the three royals, who were returning from a day's shopping excursion to the Italian fashion centre of Milan, refused to take their seats.
Furious passengers on the flight whistled and clapped before the three women were escorted off and took another flight to London.
The incident began as passengers boarded flight 563 from Milan's Linate airport to Heathrow.
The women, all members of the oil-rich emir of Qatar's family, Bader Bin Khalifa Al Thani, were booked into business class along with the emir and an entourage of cooks and other staff.
However as passengers were fastening seat belts the women got up and refused to take their assigned seats as they were next to men they did not know.
Cabin crew tried to rearrange the seats but passengers travelling together refused to give up their allotted positions.
Eventually the captain was called in to try and mediate but after more than three hours of wrangling on the tarmac in scorching temperatures, he decided the best way forward was to offload the women.
Police and diplomats from the Qatar consulate in Milan were also called in. The Qatar party eventually left Milan for London on an Alitalia flight after free places were found for them in business class but the cooks and entourage were seated in economy.
A spokesman at Linate confirmed: "There was an incident involving women of the Qatar royal family."
