Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, made a special visit to the Ducati stand on Saturday, 30 November, as part of his official trip to the Motorcycle Live event at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England.

Tim Maccabee, Managing Director, Ducati UK Ltd hosted the Royal guest, introducing him to the features of the brand new Ducati Monster 1200, in addition to the Ducati Diavel, which the Duke climbed aboard when prompted by a member of the public who shouted: "Go on, get on it!"

With a smile, Prince William duly pleased the crowd by trying the Diavel for size, before meeting former Ducati British Superbike Champion, Shane Byrne, with whom he shared some comments on the enjoyment of riding Ducati Motorcycles.

The Duke also took the opportunity of his visit to have a closer look at the new Ducati 1199 Superleggera, which was making its UK debut at the packed show. The limited edition model of only 500 represents the most exclusive and desirable Ducati in the range and with components in magnesium, carbon fibre, and titanium, the model boasts the highest power-to-weight ratio of any production motorcycle in history.

“It was a real pleasure and an honour to host HRH Prince William on our stand,” commented Tim Maccabee. “He was pleased to take a look around and certainly seemed to enjoy sitting on the different models. He commented on how light the Diavel was, but I think he favoured the 1199 Superleggera.”

The visit was completed with a look at the new Ducati 899 Panigale and an overview of the Ducati TriOptions Cup series in which the model will compete, announced for 2014 as a support race within the British Superbike Championship.