Thursday, January 8, 2009

British royal Princess Beatrice, age 20, has become the victim of thieves, who stole her prized £17,000 black 1 Series BMW while she and her police bodyguard were shopping in Devonshire Place in Kensington — leaving the vehicle’s keys in the ignition.

The luxury car, which has a personalised number plate and contained some personal items, was a gift from her father, Prince Andrew, for her 17th birthday in 2005.

Media reports said that Beatrice was “extremely embarrassed” about the theft in a street in the West 1 area, which happened Wednesday just after 9am in London. She later joined her sister, Princess Eugenie, age 18, at a nearby pub. Metropolitan Police said Westminster officers were investigating the reports.

The BMW 1 Series (code names E82 and E87,) is a small-luxury car / small family car produced by the German automaker BMW since 2004. The 1 Series is the only vehicle in its class featuring rear-wheel drive and a longitudinally-mounted engine.

Princess Beatrice of York (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York. Thus, she is fifth person and the first female in the line of succession to the thrones of sixteen independent states. When she was born, she was the first princess born into the immediate royal family since Princess Anne in 1950.

This is not the first time the Princess suffered a loss. In December, her Norfolk terrier Max went missing in Windsor, but reappeared three weeks later on Saturday, alive and well.