The royal family’s driving habits are under further scrutiny after a newspaper report suggested the monarchy have specially adapted Land Rovers which don’t warn drivers if they are not wearing a seatbelt.

An unnnamed source told The Sun that Jaguar Land Rover had been told to disable the audible seatbelt warnings on the vehicles which it has supplied to the royals, including Range Rovers and the duke’s Land Rover Freelander.

Both the Queen and Prince Philip were photographed driving but not wearing their seatbelts in the days following the Duke of Edinburgh’s car crash near Sandringham.

The actions have angered road safety charities, with Lawrence Waterman, chairman for the British Safety Council saying: “It’s not as if it’s onerous or difficult, and the law requires it.

“Obviously these safety devices are a helpful reminder and I’m very disappointed as I do feel the royals should be setting a better example.

“Whether or not the device was working, Prince Philip should be wearing a seatbelt. He’s old enough to know what he should be doing and frankly I feel he’s showing a disrespectful attitude to the rest of us.”

The audible warning technology has been installed on most modern cars and features a sound which gets louder when the occupants don’t fasten their seatbelts. It is against the law to be in a moving vehicle on UK roads without a seatbelt, unless a doctor grants medical exemption.

Brake road safety organisation director Joshua Harris said: “Not wearing a seatbelt flies in the face of decades of evidence and puts your life at risk.”

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