Rania dazzles - in M4 traffic jam

The king and queen of Jordan were among thousands of motorists stranded on the M4 for more than an hour today on the last day of their state visit to Britain.

The couple's flustered security guards could only watch and wait as the royal car was stuck in a 10-mile tailback on one of Britain's busiest motorways.

King Abdullah and Queen Rania, who has impressed her British hosts with her elegance during the four-day tour, were travelling to London from their State apartments at Windsor Castle.

Sources said that the young couple were planning to spend the morning shopping in London before returning to the M4 and driving to Heathrow to fly back to Jordan later today.

A police spokesman said: "Unfortunately, the king and queen got some first hand experience of the daily commuting nightmare on the M4.

"There was a bit of a security scare because their entourage could not move in the jam. We were trying to find a way of clearing a path but it proved virtually impossible.

"A vehicle was causing an obstruction at Chiswick and very quickly the traffic backed up - and the king and queen and their guards were caught up in it."

Traffic eventually started moving again after an hour and a half, when the broken-down lorry was moved.

The royal couple's visit to Britain included a State tour of Windsor in an open-top car riage with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on Tuesday, and a banquet at Spencer House last night.