Wills hits road as Prince of Wheels
THE Duke of Cambridge became the Prince of Wheels once again when he went for a spin on Triumph’s latest model yesterday.
His wife wishes his days in the saddle were well and truly over, but motorbike-mad Prince William got a treat and tried out the new Triumph Tiger 1200 during a tour of the manufacturer’s factory in Hinckley, Leicestershire.
The second in line to the throne, who struggled to contain his excitement at seeing all the two-wheeled machines in various stages of construction, was taken aback when he saw the new model: “Look at this – a monster,” he said.
William, 35, wore a helmet, gloves and jacket for his turn on the Tiger and afterwards declared: “Very nice.”
Later he sat on a Triumph Bobber bike – evoking comparisons with Steve McQueen on a Triumph TR6 in The Great Escape – and drove an Aston Martin DB7 V8 around a wet skid track, spinning it at first and then driving gingerly at Mira technology park in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
William also had a go in a driverless car, shouting “help” in mock horror as engineer John Boffin asked him to press the Ford Mondeo’s start button.
He is said to love the freedom and anonymity of riding a motorbike with a crash helmet hiding his identity.
On a visit to Dundee in October 2015, the Duchess of Cambridge confessed she was terrified every time he went out on his favourite Ducati superbike.
“He’s still riding it. It always fills me with horror when he goes out on it. I’m terrified. Hopefully, I’m going to keep George off it,” she said.