Tri-Service
The Countess Of Wessex Begins Her Diamond Challenge
Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex has begun her Diamond Challenge, a 445 mile cycle from The Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh to Buckingham Palace in London.
She is the first member of the Royal family to attempt such a challenge and will be joined along the way by military personnel.
Her Royal Highness seemed in good spirits ahead of what is going to be quite a gruelling few days.
She's cycled 3000 miles to train for this event, and by her side are personnel from four of her military affiliations – RAF Wittering, 5th Battalion The Rifles, the Corps of Army Music and the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.
The Countess' family were there to wish her well, and she is cycling to raise awareness of The Duke of Edinburgh Award, set up by her father-in-law 60 years ago. It's a celebration of the great outdoors has much in common with the Armed Forces.
The countess is fairly new to cycling, stating that before taking up the challenge she had “never even sat on a road bike”.
But after 8 months of training, The Countess of Wessex and her team of Military supporters have begun their palace to palace journey, which they will be finishing up in about a week’s time.
People across the UK have been encouraged this year to take on their own DofE inspired events – but for this group, their challenge has just begun as they head South.
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