The Queen, 94, who enjoys getting behind the wheel of a car, is the only person in the country who does not need a DVLA licence to drive. As part of the “royal prerogative”, the Queen also does not have to follow the rules of the road. But she stopped driving on public roads after Prince Philip, 99, relinquished his licence.
Speaking to the Channel 5 documentary Secrets of the Royal Palaces, a Palace insider said: “He’s a pilot, he’s been driving all of his life and to hand in his licence is like the last vestige of normality.”
Narrator Glynis Barber continued: “Two months after Philip gave up his licence, it was reported that the Queen would also stop driving on public roads.”
It comes as royal expert Emily Andrews explained that the monarch can run red lights to stop her from becoming a “sitting target”.
Speaking on the Channel 5 documentary Secrets of Royal Palace, Ms Andrews said: “When the Queen is in a motorcade, you had to keep moving.
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“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.”
However, the Queen’s favourite mode of transport is by the Royal Train.
It is claimed the insists on knowing the departure time of the train in order to avoid fines.
“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.”
Ms Robinson said: “The good thing with the royals is they are never late for anything.”
The royal train underwent renovations in 1977.
