\n<\/p>\n
Once the stuff of Silicon Valley dreams<\/a> and urban nightmares, the conversation around electric scooters feels like a vestige of a bygone era<\/a>. Given that, the sight of Prince William<\/strong> on one of the reviled devices might feel oddly fitting\u2014or just about right, given the overall<\/a> kookiness<\/a> of 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n Back in the far simpler times of 2018, electric scooters were known for ruining San Francisco<\/a> (this is before everything else<\/a> ruined San Francisco<\/a>\u2014relax, I live there and am therefore entitled to a little self-mockery) and making some fairly obnoxious-seeming people<\/a> at least temporarily quite rich<\/a>.<\/p>\n The jaw-droppingly funded market<\/a> has since collapsed<\/a>, with many companies booted<\/a> from the stock market, bankrupt, or worse. These days, you can still find the devices for rent in tourist-heavy cities and holiday destinations in the U.S. and elsewhere, and occasionally you\u2019ll pass a privately owned one on the road\u2014that is, if you\u2019re in a city that hasn\u2019t banned them from the streets.<\/p>\n In London, for example, the only electric scooters allowed on city streets are owned by rental companies participating in a tightly regulated trial<\/a>. \u201cIt is still illegal to use privately-owned e-scooters or other powered transporters on public roads,\u201d officials say.<\/p>\n All bets are off when the roads you\u2019re scooting on are ones that you and your family own, however. So when Prince William was spotted by a social media user<\/a> as he zoomed around the grounds of Windsor Castle, you needn\u2019t worry that he was breaking the law: according to regional transit officials, the scooters\u2014which as of late 2023 had \u201cseriously injured\u201d 22 people, per the BBC<\/a>\u2014are use at your own risk if ridden with a landowner\u2019s permission, as William presumably has.<\/p>\n According to a report in the Sun<\/em><\/a> from last year, William purchased the scooter in 2023 in an effort to make the 10-minute trip from Adelaide Cottage (where William lives with wife Kate Middleton<\/strong> and children Prince Louis<\/strong>, Prince George<\/strong>, and Princess Charlotte<\/strong>) to Windsor Castle less of a trek. The scooter, which reportedly can hit 10 miles per hour, \u201cjust makes sense,\u201d an unnamed source told the Sun<\/em>. \u201cHe whizzes up to the castle\u201d when he needs to see his father, King Charles III<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a two or three-mile round trip from his family home at Adelaide Cottage to\u00a0Windsor Castle,\u00a0so it\u2019s easier by scooter than car or walking,\u201d the source reportedly said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear when the William on a scooter video was taken, and it\u2019s equally unknown what make and model of scooter the prince has. What we do know is that Middleton likely prefers a scooter over his previous mode of solo travel, a high-powered motorcycle.<\/p>\n In 2015, the princess told well-wishers<\/a> that \u201cit always fills me with horror when\u201d William would hop on his beloved bike<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m terrified,\u201d she said of his easy-riding habit. Given Middleton\u2019s challenging year<\/a>, trading a hog for a scooter seems like a kind concession, regardless of the device\u2019s brand or its past role as a hot-button issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n