New footage shows Kate and William’s police escort speeding ahead of convoy moments before grandmother, 83, was seriously injured in collision
- The footage from above a London street shows bike driving ahead of the convoy
- The cameraman believes the bike was exceeding the local 30mph limit
- Widowed charity worker Irene Mayor, 83, remains in hospital after breaking three limbs and her pelvis in a smash with one of the outriders on Monday
- Her sister called for police riders to slow down saying Irene could have died
New footage shows one of William and Kate’s police motorbike outriders driving fast through a junction just moments before a biker in the convoy crashed into an elderly grandmother leaving her with horrific injuries.
Irene Mayor, 83, is still in hospital after suffering a broken pelvis, two broken arms, a broken leg and a dangerous head injury when one of the royal family’s armed motorbike police escorts crashed into her.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has opened an investigation after widowed charity worker Irene was sent spinning to the ground by an officer escorting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who clipped her with his wing mirror while reportedly driving on the wrong side of the road.
Pictured: Irene Mayor, 83, who was sent spinning to the ground and is still in hospital after being hit by a royal motorcycle police outrider
The footage shows a white bike of the Special Escort Group (SEG) driving significantly ahead of the rest of the convoy, made up of another white bike, the royals’ black Audi and a black Range Rover carrying additional protection officers.
A man in a sixth floor flat who filmed the footage said he believes the biker was exceeding the 30 mph speed limit as the convoy sped past below.
The footage shows the convoy crossing a T-junction on Wandsworth High Street with Merton Road at 12.36pm as it travels west towards Upper Richmond Road where the accident would then happen at 12.50 pm.
The man who filmed the convoy on the A3 said : ‘I heard a lot of police whistles below and I looked down to see what was happening. I think there is an issue there as sirens would be better.
‘I know the speed limit there is 30mph and it seemed to me that the lead outrider was going faster than that.’
Armed police from the SEG accompany senior members of the royal family on official trips in order to block junctions and control traffic so the convoy can make ‘steady progress’, former royal protection officer Simon Morgan told MailOnline.
The Queen, and the families of of children, grandchildren and cousins all qualify for the additional layer of protection – over and above the close protection officers who guard the royals 24 hours a day.
Royal protection outriders: who do they protect, when, and where?
Members of the British Royal Family are protected 24 hours a day by personal protection officers wherever they go, but their trips are not always accompanied by motorcycle outriders
Only when senior royals have to get from A to B within the UK for an official function are they accompanied by the highly-trained armed officers of the Special Escort Group (SEG).
SEG officers ride powerful white-liveried motorbikes and undergo more than six months of courses in advanced driving, anti-hijacking and unarmed combat. They are all Class One advanced drivers and motorbike riders.
The SEG also ride in convoy when Category A prisoners are transferred, and they provide government security for the transportation of very high value goods.
Simon Morgan, pictured here with Prince Charles, was a royal protection officer from 2007 to 2013. He explained all senior royals’ official trips are escorted by SEG outriders
The Queen and Prince Philip; Charles and Camilla; the Cambridges and the Sussexes are all protected by the SEG.
Additionally the SEG rides in official convoys for the Queen’s other children the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, and the Princess Royal; and the Queen’s cousins the Dukes of Kent and Gloucester.
Simon Morgan, director of operations at Trojan Security, was a personal protection officer from 2007 to 2013 and guarded the Queen and Prince charles among others.
He told MailOnline: ‘SEG don’t go fast, as they do in other countries.
‘It’s never about speed, it’s all about making steady progress rather than banging through traffic with blue lights and sirens’.
He explained that different trips in different circumstances would require a different ‘package’ of security but it was normal for the bikes to be out in front of the royal car with additional security officers following in a trailing cars.
The bikers block junctions and pedestrian crossings in order to open up a route so the convoy can make steady progress.
Both the royal family and the Metropolitan Police refused to comment on royal protection procedures.
Six doctors and paramedics gathered around Mrs Mayor to treat her injuries before she was taken to hospital after the crash
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pictured travelling in in a Range Rover escorted by police motorcycle outriders and royalty protection officers
Pictured: William and Kate at Windsor Castle on Monday after their convoy hit an 83-year-old grandmother, leaving her seriously injured
Yesterday Mrs Mayor’s brother said he had retained lawyers to ‘look after’ his injured sibling, while her sister blasted police outriders for driving too fast and told of her fears for her sister’s health.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Joyce Shore, 86, said: ‘Irene may not get through this. She is just an ordinary lady who minds her own business and then this happens… The police outriders have to slow down.
‘My sister is lying in a hospital bed and she could have been killed. She could so easily have been killed.’
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have said they are ‘deeply concerned and saddened’ and have sent flowers. They are understood to be waiting for an opportunity to visit Mrs Mayor in hospital.
Royal protection policies that the Special Escort Group police rider will have been following when the accident took place will be reviewed. The accident will be investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
SEG: The highly-trained heavily-armed motorbike police who clear the way
The all-white bikes which escort the royal convoy are part of the SEG, or Special Escort Group, whose job is to facilitate VIP’s progress through traffic.
The specially-trained protection officers on the powerful bikes are some of the only British police to drive armed, but are not part of the Close Protection team who accompany the royals at all times.
SEG riders block junctions and provide an escort for the royal’s own cars, which are driven either by their security team or often by the royals themselves.
Armed police of the Special Escort Group drive powerful white motorbikes with registration plates ending SEG
A four- or six-person team from the SEG, whose bikes’ registration plates all end in those letters (see above) drive in convoy to provide a secure bubble in which the royals can travel.
The officers, from the Metropolitan Police Service, accompany the royals alongside their Close Protection team wherever they go in the UK.
All SEG officers have anti-hijacking training and advanced motoring skills and carry a Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol.
The goal of the SEG outriders is to enable a Royal or VIP convoy to keep moving, in order to avoid presenting a stationary target to would-be attackers, and simultaneously to cause minimal disruption or safety hazard to the public.
One outrider stays directly ahead of the lead vehicle at all times while the other riders constantly leapfrog ahead to control the traffic and clear a path for the convoy. This might explain reports that the driver involved in this crash was on the wrong side of the road.
The protection convoy travels with blue lights flashing but do not ordinarily drive with sirens on, preferring whistles in order to cause less disturbance.