Prince Harry was at the centre of a false terror alert in London today after one of his police outriders smashed into an oncoming taxi in a dramatic car crash in central London.
According to an exclusive report on the front page of tomorrow’s Mail, Harry’s bodyguards feared they were the subject of a terrorist attack after a police officer lost control of his motorbike and it careened head-on into a white Prius taxi.
The fact that the smash happened on the 13th anniversary of 9/11 probably did not help anyone’s nerves.
Harry was on his way to the Invictus Games, the paralympic-style event for wounded servicemen he has been instrumental in setting up when the accident happened.
A source tells the Mail that ‘concern was etched on Harry’s face’ as his driver immediately went into emergency mode, speeding Harry through the wreckage in a well-rehearsed routine before coming to a stop several hundred metres up the road.
The police motorcyclist was catapulted 40 yards down the road and taken to hospital, along with the driver of the taxi who had to be cut free by firemen.
The motorcyclist has since been discharged from hospital, while the taxi driver is in a 'stable' condition, the Mail reports.
The Mail says that CCTV shows the taxi pulled into the path of the motorcade from a side street.
A source close to Harry told the Mail that the prince was insistent they stop and help, even though his security advice would have been to drive on.
"It was clearly a shocking incident but he was pleased the officers were able to stop and administer important immediate first aid," they said.