Driving ban for Princess of Wales's mother

Frances Shand Kydd, mother of the Princess of Wales, was banned from driving for a year and fined pounds 400 yesterday after being found guilty of drink-driving.

Shand Kydd, 60, had more than two-and-a-half times the legal limit of alcohol in her blood when she was stopped in Shore Street, Oban, on 5 April. She had denied the charge. She was acquitted of failing to give a road-side breath test without reasonable cause, after a three-day trial at Oban Sheriff Court.

Sheriff William Dunlop told her that in giving her only the minimum ban, he was taking into account an unblemished 42-year driving record and "that a loss of a licence can mean more to some people than others". Shand Kydd had been upset by a letter on the day of her arrest, the court heard.