London Marathon 2023: A look at the regal runners that have participated in the race in previous years

The annual London Marathon takes place this weekend, taking over most of central London on Sunday April 24 2023, and maybe leaving residents slightly irked with the number of road closures set to take place in such a short proximity (the King’s Coronation for example and the road closures surrounding that.) Talks have already occurred regarding the celebrity runners taking part this year and the causes that have led them to take on the 19.6 laps around the capital, including members of Netflix series The Crown. 

As reported by Londonworld, Josh O’Connor has confirmed he will tackle the 1.34 miles, which coincidentally will see runners trek past Buckingham Palace - a location O’Connor may be familiar with after portraying a young King Charles III in the Netflix series, while frontman for Mumford and Sons, Marcus Mumford, has stated his intentions to run in support of Grenfell Foundation, a charity supporting bereaved families and survivors of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire and the local community.

But there have been some actual royals (or royal adjacent) runners that have taken part throughout the 42 year history of the London Marathon, which first began in 1981 after Chris Brasher, a former Olympic athlete, and John Disley, a former Olympic steeplechaser, who were inspired by the New York City Marathon and wanted to create a similar event in London.

More important to us at Peopleworld - how well did they do? Were any records shattered by the regal racers who took part in the London Marathon? 

Harry, Duke of Sussex - 2017 and 2018

Old Harry has run the London Marathon twice during its existence, taking part in 2017 and then again a year later. On both occasions, Harry ran to support Heads Together, a charity led by Prince William, Princess Catherine and Harry in conjunction with Mind, which was created a year earlier in 2016 before Harry’s first run.

His second run in 2018 involved Meghan Markle also, taking part and also stopping every once in a while to take photos with other runners and fans standing on the sidelines cheering their respective runners on. That would explain then why Harry’s 2018 time is a lot different that  his debut run - he finished the marathon in 4 hours, 29 minutes, and 12 seconds but with Meghan tagging along in 2018 that time increased to 5 hours, 52 minutes, and 57 seconds.

Princess Beatrice - 2010

Princess Beatrice was more than up for the challenge seven years before Harry took to the streets of London, running in the 2010 marathon to raise money for Children in Crisis, a charity that helps to educate children in developing countries. The charity has been a constant throughout the Princess’ life, as her mother Sarah Ferguson was the founder of the charity, and Beatrice herself has visited the charity's projects in various countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia.

Her finishing time was pretty impressive also - completing the 2010 London Marathon circuit in 5 hours, 15 minutes, and 57 seconds. 

Lady Sarah Chatto - 2011

The only daughter of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, the 1st Earl of Snowdon, Lady Sarah Chatto took part in the 2011 London Marathon to raise money for her dedicated charity - the Leonard Cheshire Disability. This charity supports disabled people to live, learn and work as independently as they choose, whatever their ability - including taking part in the London Marathon. 

Unfortunately, there are no finish times available for Lady Sarah Chatto, but we can assure you that she did finish the race, and therefore earned the money that was pledged towards the charity. Slow and steady does indeed win the race at times, when it comes to charitable causes.