The royals who love cars and racing

From members of the Thai Royal Family, to Sweden and Monaco, there’s no shortage of royals wanting to feel the adrenaline rush of jumping behind the wheel and showing what they’ve got when it comes to their speed-loving ways.

Known as Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand), or by his nickname B. Bira, he was a member of the Thai royal family and had an impressive list of hobbies to his royal title! A racing driver, sailor, and pilot, Prince Bira raced in the very first F1 race almost 70 years ago, as well as Grand Prix races for the Maserati, Gordini, and Connaught teams.

He was the only Southeast Asian driver to compete in the F1 until Malaysian Alex Yoong joined Minardi in 2001 as well the only Thai driver up until Alexander Albon debuted in 2019 for Red Bull!

Prince Bira wasn’t the only noble to take part in the race all those years ago, with Swiss Baron Emmanuel 'Toulo' de Graffenried also jumping behind the wheel, after winning the 1949 edition of the British Grand Prix in the pre-world championship era.

He’s extremely handsome, and Sweden's Prince Carl Philip also enjoys pushing the limits, and taking a ride on the wild side. The royal has previously showed off his racing skills during the Lidköping Open cart racing competition, as well as in the Swedish Touring Car Championship.

He’s experienced the sweet taste of victory with Team Volvo, and it seems the need for speed is genetic within Sweden’s Royal family, with Price Carl Philip’s father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, having also raced competitively as a young man.

His late mother might be Hollywood star Grace Kelly, but Prince Albert is an avid racing fan and has been known to jump behind the wheel of a Venturi VM-FE-02 at the Princely Palace in Monaco! The prince has also participated in the Dakar rally twice, in 1985 and 1986, driving a Mitsubishi Pajero but retired both times. His sister Princess Caroline has also participated in the 1985 Dakar, co-driving for her husband Stefano Casiraghi.

Regularly seen track side during the Monaco Grand Prix, racing isn’t the only interest of the Princes’, with the royal also competing in five Winter Olympics games, serving as the pilot of the Monaco Olympic bobsled team. Unfortunately, he never managed to take home a medal.

The Prince's nephew Pierre Casiraghi is also a rev head, competing in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup in Hockenheim, Germany as well as being a regular at the Monte-Carlo Historic Rally.

His Royal Highness Prince Leopold of Bavaria, an heir to the 800-year-old Wittelsbach dynasty, travels all over the world as a brand ambassador for BMW and loves to race fast cars. In the 1960s, his father, Prince Konstantin von Bayern sent him to the US to study mechanical engineering where he also decided to indulge in his passion for racing and won the North American Ice Championship in Alaska.

During his racing career ‘Poldi’, as he is affectionately known, has achieved more than 120 wins in his decades of racing. He has raced touring cars, participated in Formula 3 as well as driving the BMW M1 Procar in Le Mans.

Although traditional titles are used socially and in genealogical literature globally, technically they're not recognised by the Austrian government after all royal and noble titles were abolished in 1919. 22 year-old Ferdinand Habsburg is heir apparent to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine which dates back more than 300 years.

Ferdinand has competed in go-kart championships, the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship, the Euroformula Open championship with a Formula 3 car. In 2018 he competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the LMP2 class and recently has been competing in the DTM championship in the Aston Martin Vantage DTM car with R-Motorsport. His ultimate goal is to race in in Formula One.

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