Only one Royal has ever run the London Marathon

Can you spot the Royal? She’s pictured with some of her team at the start of the race in 2010 (Picture: UK Press)

The London Marathon is set to kick off this weekend, and the race 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 her mum, Fergie, an emotional hug at the end.

Princess Beatrice after completing the marathon (Picture: Getty) The princess hugs her mum, Sarah, Duchess of York (Picture: Indigo)

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.

This is the route that this years’ competitors will be undertaking (Picture: Metro graphics)

A record number of people took part in last year’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.

The group managed to break a world record in the race (Picture: WireImage)

Last year, soap star Emma Barton took part with her EastEnders co-star Jamie Borthwick.

Best known as Honey Mitchell and Jay Brown, respectively, the pair ran in character and were filmed the whole way as part of a brain tumour storyline, following the death of Lola Pearce-Brown last year.

Another person with extra weight on his back – quite literally – was Joel Dommett, who decided to throw on Danny Jones’s Piranha costume, which he wore to compete in the latest season of The Masked Singer UK.

Joel joined several other celebrities taking part in the 2024 race, alongside McFly musician Harry Judd, comedian Rosie Jones, actress Ruth Wilson and many more.

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