When the royal family celebrates a big event, such as Trooping the Colour, it often happens that we get photos of royals like Kate Middleton and Prince William arriving at the venue in their cars. You may have noticed that, in these photos, the royals are almost never wearing seat belts, and there’s a pretty interesting reason for that. Even though it might not seem like it, they do have safety in mind.
According to what British security expert Michael Chandler told the Daily Mail, the prime reason that royals often seem to ride in cars without buckling up is because they want to make sure they can get out of the car as fast as possible if there’s a security issue.
“As you might imagine, there’s concerns about extracting a principal from a vehicle as quickly as possible,” Michael told the news outlet. “It’s likely there’s a risk-based approach. There’ll be a risk assessment, the outcome of which will determine whether or not there needs to be extra precautions.”
That’s not the only reason they go without a seat belt, though – not only do seat belts wrinkle their clothing, which is supposed to remain pristine, but they may be in a situation where they’re driving just a short distance from place to place, or they’re getting out of the car and then back in over a short period of time.
“If they’re in and out of a vehicle, royals will be less inclined to fit their seatbelt every time. With men, for example, a seatbelt can crease shirts and so that might also be a factor,” he said.
But what if the car’s driver gets pulled over, and the police discover that the royals aren’t buckled in? There’s a very slim chance that anyone’s getting a ticket, according to Michael.
“It doesn’t legally exempt them if they’re not traveling for a ceremonial duty, but they’re unlikely to be arrested when it was a decision made by someone who’s looking after them,” he said. “In short, the police who provide the protection aren’t likely to be challenged by their policing colleagues.”
Basically, in cases where seat belts could pose an additional risk to the royals in the event that there was an emergency, they skip them – but in most other cases (the ones we don’t see photographs of), they probably are buckled up like everyone else.
“They do actually wear seatbelts, probably much more than people realize. On those occasions where they’re traveling relatively quickly through London or on motorways, they will certainly wear seatbelts,” Michael told Daily Mail.
