The London Marathon – which kicked off this morning – is no stranger to famous faces.

Actors, presenters, singers, sports stars and a fair few politicians have taken part over the years, but only one royal has run the race in its 39-year history.

In 2010, at the age of 21, Princess Beatrice took on the 26.2 mile challenge, in aid of her mum, the Duchess of York’s charity, Children in Crisis.

Wearing a green tutu, the royal joined 31 others, including Richard Branson, his two children, Sam and Holly, and Beatrice’s then-boyfriend David Clark, to run the race while all tied together as a ‘human caterpillar’.

She completed the race in five hours, 15 minutes and 57 seconds and the group broke the record for the most people to finish a marathon while tied together.

Beatrice, who is Prince Andrew’s eldest daughter, was pictured giving mum Fergie an emotional hug at the end.

It’s thought security fears have stopped some of the more high-profile royals from competing.

In 2017, Kate, William, and Harry apparently wanted to take part, but were refused because the high security presence that would be needed along the track wasn’t logistically feasible.

The trio reportedly wanted to run in support of their mental health organisation Heads Together, but in the end cheered on the runners from the sidelines.

A record number of people took part in today’s London Marathon, with over 50,000 running the course from Greenwich to Buckingham Palace.

Among them were ‘Hardest Geezer’ Russ Cook, soldiers injured in the Ukraine war, women’s record contender Tigst Assefa, TV presenter Romesh Ranganathan and politician Matt Hancock.

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Sara Odeen-Isbister

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