Clamping Their Style

Fri, 30 July 2010 Courtesy of: The Sun Online

They shouldn't have too much trouble paying the fine – the billionaire owners of these supercars have just bought Harrods.

The Qatari royal family had a rude introduction to London parking laws when a traffic warden clamped their exclusive motors – worth more than £1.5million – as they sat outside their own shop.

The £1.2million Koenigsegg CCXR and £350,000 Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce were illegally parked outside the posh Knightsbridge department store, bought by the family three months ago, last week.

“It's not every day you see cars like this, let alone watch them get clamped”

Crowds of shocked tourists watched in disbelief as a traffic warden first ticketed then clamped both the cars.

The stunning motors belong to the oil-rich Al-Thani royal family, who own a string of luxury vehicles – all decked out in their own distinctive "baby blue" colour.

Qatar Holding group, which forked out £1.5billion in April to buy Harrods from Fulham FC owner Mohamed Al Fayed, is led by the Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani.

One of the cars – the beautiful 249mph Koenigsegg – is one of only six ever made, while only 350 of the Lamborghinis were built.

But both were brought to a standstill when they were clamped – although the owners shouldn't have too much trouble stumping up the £150 release fee.

An onlooker said: "It's not every day you see cars like this, let alone watch them get clamped.

"Judging by their cars, I shouldn't think the owners will worry too much about paying a couple of hundred quid to have the clamps taken off."

The family could have taken advantage of Harrods' valet parking service which charges a £8 for the first hour or £40 for 8-9 hours with an additional £50 charge to store a car overnight.

The Al-Thani family have an estimated wealth in the region of £2.4bn as well as stakes in dozens of businesses around the world.