WHAT LAND ROVERS HAVE QUEEN ELIZABETH II BEEN SEEN DRIVING?

The Royal Mews, on the grounds of Buckingham Palace, is more than one of the finest equestrian facilities in the world. In addition to stabling over 30 Windsor Greys and Cleveland Bays, the Mews houses the British monarch’s historic collection of royal coaches and carriages, as well as many of Queen Elizabeth’s collection of classic automobiles, valued at well over £10 million ($13.2 million USD).

Whether being chauffeured about, or at the wheel herself, Queen Elizabeth II is known to be quite the car enthusiast. Indeed, before becoming Queen, the 18-year-old Princess Elizabeth volunteered as a truck driver and auto mechanic during World War II. As such, she is probably the only member of the Royal Family who, if pressed into service, could change a tire or work beneath the hood.

Her majesty’s impressive collection of state and personal vehicles includes several Rolls Royce Phantom IVs and Vs, a Bentley State Limousine, a Land Rover Series I (1953), a Land Rover Defender (2002), and a Land Rover Range Rover Hybrid Landaulet among many other bespoke classics.

Obviously, the Queen is not like you or me. Except, like most of us, she appears to prefer driving cars that suit her lifestyle. And while a chauffeured limo is the ride best suited for the longest-serving monarch in British history, on her own time the Queen prefers to motor around her various country estates seated at the wheel of a Land Rover Defender.

Hers is a long and happy association with Land Rover dating back to 1948 when she was still Princess Elizabeth. That year, while her beloved father King George VI was still very much alive and well, he was gifted with the 100th production Land Rover, a car that proved to be an ideal fit for his young family and their passion for country pursuits.

In 1951, Princess Elizabeth is shown in vintage newsreel footage riding in an open-top Land Rover as she stood-in for her ailing father to present the King’s Colours to the Royal Air Force at a military parade in Hyde Park. Indeed, since the 1950s, the Queen has regularly been spotted driving various Defenders and has owned more of them—thought to be around 30—than any other model.

Land Rover was also a particular favorite of her late husband Prince Phillip, who used them throughout his entire adult life. At age 97, the Duke of Edinburgh was seen driving a new Land Rover through the private lands of Windsor Castle only months after a serious automobile accident prompted him to voluntarily surrender his driver’s license.

Although his Land Rover Freelander 2 experienced a serious rollover as a result of the accident, the prince walked away virtually unscathed. Passengers in a second car, a Kia, sustained only minor injuries. Although it is unknown whether his Land Rover actually prevented the Prince from being seriously injured, when it was first built in 2006, the Freelander 2 scored top marks in crash safety tests. Meanwhile a new Freelander, said to be an exact replica of the damaged one, was delivered to the prince less than 24 hours after the incident.

Although he passed away on April 9, 2021 at the age of 99, the Duke of Edinburgh had been planning his own funeral since 2003—when he was 82 and still in remarkably good health. As part of his final plans, he collaborated with Land Rover on modifying a Defender TD5 130 to be used as his personal hearse when the time came. The modifications included an open bed to hold the coffin in full view, using rubber grips accented by silver metal pins to prevent it from moving or slipping. Additionally, its exterior was painted the shade of dark green favored by the British military.

Originally intended to transport the prince’s remains some 22 miles from London’s Wellington Arch to Windsor Castle, the COVID pandemic upended those long-made plans. Ultimately, when Prince Phillip died, he and the Queen were already self-isolating at Windsor Castle, his intended burial site. Thus, the bespoke Defender hearse ended up carrying him but a short distance to his final resting place in St. George’s Chapel on the castle grounds. The date was April 17, 2021, and the customized Land Rover took the place of a horse-drawn gun carriage that had long been the royal family’s traditional means of funeral transport.

Not long after, while touring Scotland, Prince William, the Queen’s grandson, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, used his late grandfather’s 1966 II-A Series Land Rover for a pandemic date night that included a drive-in movie in the town where they first met. Thus, they became the fourth generation of the House of Windsor to embrace Land Rover as their family ride.