Did Royals force Di off her Raleigh?

There’s a strange snippet of news in today’s Daily Mirror. Princess Diana’s daily commuter bike has raised just £210 in an auction. The Daily Mirror calls it her ’shame bicycle’ because it “was not seen as fitting with her future status.”

The Raleigh Traveller was put to one side. Pity, as bicycles are the fastest vehicles in urban situations, Lady Di, as she then was, could have escaped the paparazzi by pedalling away from them. Er, until that is, they got on their bikes, too.

Conversely, in the Netherlands, the Royals were allowed to ride their bikes. In fact, Queen Juliana was known as the ‘bicycling monarach.’