The Queen reportedly doesn’t sit in red lights for a very particular reason - and it’s all to do with her safety.
- The Queen is thought to be allowed to run red lights to avoid becoming a "sitting target".
- According to a Royal Expert, protocol when the Queen is in a motorcade is to "keep moving".
- In other Royal News (opens in new tab), Prince William "guided" Duchess Catherine through podcast nervousness (opens in new tab).
The 94-year-old monarch is the only person in the country who does not require a DVLA license in order to legally drive. As part of the “royal prerogative”, the Queen is also exempt from following the rules of the road.
Now a Royal Expert has revealed that the Queen is allowed to run red lights for a crucial security reason.
Why can the Queen run red lights?
According to Royal Expert Emily Andrews, the Queen is able to run red lights in order to prevent her from becoming a “sitting target”. Speaking on the Channel 5 documentary Secrets of Royal Palace, Ms Andrews reportedly said: "When the Queen is in a motorcade, you had to keep moving.”
She explained: "You never, ever want to stop, that's why they sail through red lights and have police because the moment the car stops, they're a sitting target. The protocol is always to keep moving."
Does the Queen use other modes of transport?
Whilst the Queen has often been pictured travelling by a car throughout her reign, the monarch’s favourite mode of transport is reportedly Royal Train (opens in new tab). Every December, the Queen can usually be seen taking the train to Norfolk where she spends Christmas at her Sandringham (opens in new tab) estate. This year, given the ongoing effects of the pandemic, the Queen chose to celebrate Christmas at Windsor Castle (opens in new tab) in Berkshire with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (opens in new tab).
According to Express.co.uk, ITV Royal Rota's Chris Ship and Lizzie Robinson have discussed how the monarch can be "fined heavily" by Network Rail for delaying trains on the network.
Speaking of Her Majesty’s love of trains, Ms Robinson reportedly said: "It's secure, efficient and effective at getting them from A to B. The Queen loves it, it's her favourite mode of transport so it stays."
Mr Ship then supposedly explained that he had been told some “interesting things” about how punctual the Queen likes the train to be.
"When she travels on it, she makes sure she knows exactly when it should be leaving and she's there going 'come on, come on, we should be going by now'.
"If the train's late and delays trains on the rest of the network the royal train gets fined quite heavily by Network Rail.
"She neither wants to be late or end up with a huge fine," he revealed.
It seems that, like the rest of us, the Queen likes reaching her destination in good time!
