A woman in her 80s is in a serious condition in hospital after an accident involving the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s convoy.
William and Kate were on their way to a ceremony in Windsor on Monday when a marked police motorbike in their convoy was involved in a collision with the woman on Upper Richmond Road, Richmond, south-west London.
The woman was taken to hospital in a critical condition, Scotland Yard said.
The duke and duchess are “deeply concerned and saddened” by what happened and have been in touch with the woman who they say is called Irene, Kensington Palace said.
READ MORE: Passenger in Duke of Edinburgh crash ‘always wanted to meet a royal’
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the circumstances of the collision which involved a motorcycle attached to the Royalty and Specialist Protection Command.
William and Kate were in the convoy
An IOPC spokesman said: “The woman, in her 80s, suffered serious injuries and was taken to a London hospital where she remains in a serious but stable condition.
“In line with procedure, the Metropolitan Police Service referred the collision to the IOPC.
“Our staff attended the scene of the incident and after careful consideration, we have launched an independent investigation.
READ MORE: Princess Charlotte to join Prince George at school
“The investigation is in its very early stages and the officer involved is assisting our enquiries as a witness.
“Our immediate thoughts are with the injured woman and her family and those affected by the incident.”
Kensington Palace said: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were deeply concerned and saddened to hear about the accident on Monday afternoon.
“Their Royal Highnesses have sent their very best wishes to Irene and her family and will stay in touch throughout every stage of her recovery.”
READ MORE: The Duke of Edinburgh and his 'need for speed'
It is understood that the couple have sent flowers.
The accident took place at around 12.50pm on Monday when the royal couple were on their way to Windsor for the St George’s Chapel service commemorating the Order of the Garter.
Earlier this year, the Duke of Edinburgh, 98, surrendered his driving licence after a crash at Sandringham.
Philip flipped his Land Rover Freelander on January 17 after colliding with a Kia as he pulled out onto the A149 in Norfolk.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here