Prince William’s mentor and travelling companion Mark Dyer has been temporarily confined to a wheelchair following a motorcycle accident several weeks ago. Mark, known by close friends as Marco, broke his tibia in three places when he collided with a car in south London and has just undergone surgery to put metal plates in his left leg.
“Prince William was upset and very concerned,” says one insider of the accident. “He is as close to Marco as anyone – they spent a lot of time together during the last few years.” The crash occurred on the day Mark returned from accompanying the 18-year-old prince on a tour through Africa seven weeks ago.“He was negotiating London traffic when he came off at speed. He was lucky to get off so lightly,” said one friend of the former Guards officer. “He spends most of his time in a wheelchair. He is hobbling on crutches but is not putting weight on his leg. It is particularly frustrating for him as he can’t do anything. He is incapable of looking after himself at the moment.”
Mark, who once dated former royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, now runs a bar in Wandsworth and is opening another in Fulham. Recuperating at his parents’ home in mid-Wales, Dyer is finding it difficult to conduct his business from afar. “He says it’s an absolute pain because he is opening the new bar and is trying to organise it from Wales,” reports one friend. “It is a bit tricky.”
Doctors speculate a full recovery is still six months off. “We have been very concerned but he is on the mend now,” assures Dyer’s mum Jane.
Mark first met Prince William in 1994 when he was named equerry to Prince Charles. He previously accompanied William on a ten-week community work project in Chile and recently planned parts of the prince’s gap year travels.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
