The Royal Cars

The Royal Cars

Drivers from the Royal Mews pictured with some of the Rolls-Royce motor cars in their charge

Her Majesty the Queen's
New Bentley State Limousine

To Mark Her
Golden Jubilee

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Bentley State Limousine.
Conceived by a Bentley-led consortium of British Motor Industry manufacturers
and suppliers, the all new car will be presented as a gift to The Queen to celebrate her
Golden Jubilee.
It will be the first Bentley to be used for
state occasions.

The new Bentley State Limousine differs fundamentally from those previously supplied by
Crewe in being a unique car, rather than a production car modified for State purposes. It also
bears no relation in either appearance or physical proportion to any other Bentley product, and has
been designed with continual reference to and input from both The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh
and of course, the Head Chauffeur.

The major partners joining Bentley in the
consortium are Mayflower Vehicle Systems
(bodywork), Leoni Wiring Systems (Electrics), TWR
Group (trim packaging), Intier Automotive (trim
engineering), Radshape (brightware), Ricardo
(powertrain) and MSX International (validation). Bentley Motors has been entirely responsible for
the design, styling, chassis and commissioning of
the car and is currently assembling the limousine in
a dedicated area of its Personal Commissioning
department. It has also overseen the project from
start to finish.
The new Bentley State Limousine will be presented to The Queen in May 2002
and will perform its first official engagement in June 2002.

W henever Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II or other members of the Royal family travel on official engagements, then almost certainly at least part of the journey will include the use of a Rolls-Royce motor car. Often one or more of the State fleet of cars will be sent ahead to be available at the destination. Even when visits abroad involved the use of the Royal Yacht Britannia, a Rolls-Royce used to travel on board in it's own specially constructed garage.

The first Rolls-Royce State car, The Queens original Phantom IV was designed to carry the unique mascot of St George slaying the dragon, (seen on the left). This mascot could be transfered to any one of the mixed fleet of State cars in the Royal Mews. On the right is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's mascot, Britannia atop the globe, which was originally made for King George V's Royal Daimlers.



It was Queen Victoria's son the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) who became the first member of the Royal family to ride in a motor car. This was a Daimler belonging to Lord Montague. Not unnaturally when The Prince ordered his first car it was a Daimler, 6-horsepower, 2-cylinder model with coachwork by Hooper. By the time of his Coronation in 1902, he had no less than 4 motor cars - all Daimlers.

The internally illuminated heraldic shield was introduced in 1955.

The Daimler company of Coventry continued to supply cars for the Sovereign untill well into the reign of the present Queen. However, following her accession in 1952, there came a gradual move from the products of Coventry to those of Crewe. In 1955, after 3 years of satisfactory service by Rolls-Royce cars on official duties, and in the wake of much discreet manoeuvring, the company was finally granted the right to display the Royal Coat of Arms together with the words 'By appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II motor car manufacturers'. Within 5 years Rolls-Royce were supreme in the field, having successfully challenged Daimler's 60 year lead as Royal Warrant holders. And Rolls-Royce continue to hold that honour to this day.

The Queen Mother's Phantom V, delivered in 1962, displaying the 'Britannia' mascot.

Rolls-Royce have supplied numerous members of the Royal family with cars other than the Sovereign. For example, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) took delivery of his first Rolls-Royce, a Barker Limousine, in 1919; he was a great enthusiast for the marque and owned no less than 10 examples including 20hp, Phantom I and Phantom II.

The late King Olaf of Norway on a State visit, accompanied by Prince Philip, in the number 2 State car.

Other Royal owners include the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, who has owned more Rolls-Royce cars than any other member of today's Royal family, and made certain that very positive ideas of her own were included in their specification. His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh is also known to have exerted strong influence regarding the selection and specification of Royal cars. HRH the Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester, HRH Princess Marina Duchess of Kent, HRH Prince Michael of Kent and HRH the Princess Alexandra of Kent all owned and used Rolls-Royce cars on official duties.

HJ Mulliner bodied 1950 Royal Phantom IV outside the State Coach House in the Royal Mews

Some Information on this page from the book
"Royal Rolls-Royce Motor Cars"
By
Andrew Pastouna
Published by Osprey Publishing
59 Grosvenor Street. London. W1X 9DA
The book is well worth buying and is of particular use to anyone interested in
the British Monarchy and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.