Prince ‘was speeding’

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 42

Prince ‘was speeding’

NZPA-PA London A former policeman says he caught the Prince of Wales speeding in his Aston Martin sports car, but was prevented from prosecuting him. The latest allegation comes after the Prince’s brother-in-law, Captain Mark Phillips, escaped a driving ban after travelling at 165 km Mr Bill Wilding, aged 38, was a constable in the Surrey force when he says he spotted Prince Charles and his police bodyguards returning from Cowdray Park polo club, at well above the speed limit. “I just thought it was a Rover and an Aston having a burn-up along a country road,” he said. "They were doing between 60 and 80 miles an hour along the road from Hindhead to Haslemere where the speed limit varies between 30mph and the national limit (60mph or lOOkm/h). “I was in a Ford Escort Panda car and had to chase them for about five miles before I caught them. I must have been doing about 95mph.” Mr Wilding, now a postman in Kent, said when

the Rover and Aston Martin finally stopped he was approached by two detective inspectors from the Royal protection squad, who were travelling in the Rover. ’ "They wouldn’t let me near him,” he said. “I thought they went over the top. They warned me not to push it too hard. "There is no question, if it had been an ordinary member of the public I would have spoken to him and he would have been done. But how can you report somebody for speeding when you haven’t interviewed him?” He filed a report to his chief constable explaining what had happened, but did not formally report the Prince for speeding. "I was frustrated, angry, and worried. I thought, ‘What do I do now’,” Mr Wilding said. “The chances of me, a bobby on a rural beat, stopping a member of the .Royal Family must be thousands to one against. But I was just doing my job.” i He left the force soon after the 1980 incident for personal reasons, but said he did not think the incident had harmed his career.