"National Treasure" Hayley Mills Fined For Speeding In Mercedes

Veteran English actress Hayley Mills was described as a “national treasure” in a magistrates’ court yesterday, which heard she is in hospital, recovering from an emergency operation.

However, this did not stop the court fining her and imposing penalty points after she was caught speeding in her Mercedes-Benz near her £1m south-west London home.

The eighty year-old former child star - related to an acting dynasty - was fined £100, plus a £40 victim surcharge and given three penalty points for the offence.

She did not appear in person at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court, but had previously admitted exceeding the 20mph speed limit on the A306 Rocks Lane, Barnes, on October 29, last year.

It was 11.14am when Mills was caught by a speed camera driving at 28mph in her grey diesel Mercedes-Benz not far from her apartment in St. Ann’s Road, Barnes.

“This is the childhood actress and national treasure,” prosecutor Matt Longhurst told the court. “She currently has three penalty points on her driving licence for a speeding offence.”

Her Bombay-born partner, actor Firdous Bamji, emailed the court: “I am submitting this on behalf of Haley Mills, who has recently undergone emergency surgery for a hernia and is in hospital.”

Mills herself told the court: “It is with great regret that I am unable to come to court.”

The surgery took place on June 2 and the actress remains in hospital.

Mills paid the fixed penalty fine outside the time limit, which resulted in the offence being elevated to the magistrates’ court.

She says she did not receive the notification letter due to visiting a friend who had suffered as stroke.

“The fine will be reverted back to when it was a fixed penalty, which was missed on reasonable grounds because she was not at home,” announced bench Chairman John Soones.

Mills is the daughter of legendary actor Sir John Mills and author and actress Mary Hayley Bell.

She is a BAFTA award-winner, Golden Globe recipient and official Disney Legend.

The former child star appeared in six Walt Disney films, including the movie adaptation of her own mother’s novel ‘Whistle Down the Wind’.

Mills is more recently known for her performance in the long-running ITV series ‘Wild at Heart made somewhat of an acting comeback in 2024, appearing as FBI profiler Dr. Josephine Grant in M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller ‘Trap’.

The thespian family includes her actress sister Juliet Mills and her brother Jonathan is a writer and producer.