Harry’s teaching Meghan how to drive… on the left
IT’S a brave man that tells a woman how to drive.
But Prince Harry is having to do just that to help Meghan Markle get to grips with motoring on the left side of the road.
With the help of her fiance and his police protection officers, the 36-yearold is also learning to drive a manual vehicle, after years of using an automatic in Canada and the US.
She will also be taught evasive driving techniques as part of a general programme of security training.
Insiders say Miss Markle is in the process of applying for a British provisional licence. Visitors to the UK from outside the EU are eligible to drive a small vehicle for up to 12 months from the time they first become resident, providing that they have a full, valid driving licence from their home country, which Meghan does.
If they wish to carry on driving in the UK after that, however, they need to get a British provisional driving licence and pass a theory and practical driving test.
The insider said Miss Markle has been seen brushing up on her skills inside the grounds at Kensington Palace, where she lives with Harry, 33, as she is said to be keen to drive herself around in the future.
Although all royalty protection vehicles are now automatics, it is important, say sources, that Miss Markle is able to drive a manual as well should she need to in an emergency.
Sources say that, like most North Americans, Miss Markle has always used a left-hand drive automatic vehicle, hence learning to master a right-hand drive manual as a back-up. Last year the Mail revealed that she had unexpectedly handed back her car in Canada – a £40,000 Audi Q5 SUV – several months before its lease was due to expire because she ‘planned to spend more time in the UK from November’. She had held the ‘VIP’ contract with Audi North America for at least four years.
Miss Markle duly moved to the UK that month and she and Harry announced their engagement a few weeks later. Like many car firms, Audi has long-standing links with various celebrities and VIPs, who act as ‘ambassadors’ for the brand. The Mail understands that Miss Markle will secure another Audi vehicle in the UK, also at a preferential rate.
Many members of the Royal Family drive Audis and have established close links to the German car company.
The revelations about her driving lessons came as it emerged Miss Markle has taken part in a mock kidnap by SAS troops as part of her preparation for joining the Royal Family. Soldiers used live ammunition and the actress was put through her paces in a series of gruelling exercises as part of the two-day course.
It was devised to ensure she is prepared for all possible emergencies, including being taken hostage in a terror attack. One former SAS officer told the Sunday Express the course at the SAS HQ in Herefordshire had been ‘devised to frighten the life out of anyone’.
Kensington Palace declined to comment on Miss Markle’s driving lessons.