Remembering Queen Elizabeth II, The Gearhead Monarch

Editor’s observe: This text was initially printed on the afternoon of September 8, 2022, when it was introduced that Queen Elizabeth II had died. At the moment, we’re revisiting this piece on the event of the Queen’s state funeral at Windsor Fortress, which can be adopted by her burial at St. George’s Chapel.

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch in British historical past and by all accounts a lifelong driving fanatic, has died. She was 96 years previous.

Her Majesty at all times had a factor for driving. On the age of 18, when she was Princess Elizabeth, the longer term Queen joined the British army, serving in the womens’ Auxiliary Territory Services. She was the primary lady from the Royal Household to serve within the army, driving military ambulances and studying to restore heavy vans on the battlefield. Regardless of some preliminary reluctance from her father, King George, the Princess’s army service was very nicely obtained by the British public. Newspapers dubbed her Princess Auto Mechanic.

The Queen’s eagerness to serve within the battle effort appeared to have kicked off a lifetime of driving enthusiasm. All through her 70-year reign, the Queen was recognized to drive a stick-shift Land Rover round her 20,000-acre property, often scaring off poachers who in all probability by no means anticipated the precise Queen of England to come back roaring round a bend.

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She was additionally, it appears, a little bit of a velocity demon. In a hilarious account from Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, we study of a time when then-Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz visited the Queen at her property and bought the experience of his life:

… in September 1998, Abdullah had been invited as much as Balmoral, for lunch with the Queen. Following his brother King Fahd’s stroke in 1995, Abdullah was already the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. After lunch, the Queen had requested her royal visitor whether or not he would really like a tour of the property. Prompted by his Overseas Minister, the urbane Prince Saud, an initially hesitant Abdullah had agreed. The royal Land Rovers had been drawn up in entrance of the citadel. As instructed, the Crown Prince climbed into the entrance seat of the Land Rover, along with his interpreter within the seat behind. To his shock, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off. Ladies should not – but – allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, and Abdullah was not used to being pushed by a girl, not to mention a queen. His nervousness solely elevated because the queen, an Military driver in wartime, accelerated the Land Rover alongside the slim Scottish property roads, speaking on a regular basis. By means of his interpreter, the Crown Prince implored the Queen to decelerate and focus on the street forward.

At the same time as she entered previous age, Her Majesty was regularly photographed on the wheel of one in all her many customized Royal Land Rovers, all of which had been outfitted together with her signature Labrador hood decoration. A Queen driving herself round was a notable departure from the usual decorum surrounding British Royals, who for probably the most half select to be pushed round by chauffeurs.

Right here she is in 1991, ripping round her property in a stick-shift Rover and having fun with each minute of it:

Queen Elizabeth’s reign coincided with huge and ongoing modifications in the best way societies work. Lately, many individuals have rightly begun to re-examine the position of the British Monarchy in the UK and world wide. There can be loads of dialogue round these matters because the world reacts to the Queen’s passing.

For us, although, we’ll at all times keep in mind Queen Elizabeth because the ambulance-driving, truck-fixing velocity demon of the Royal Household. In that means, she was one in all us.