Golden, horse-drawn carriages aside, today, we explore some of the cars from the Coronation of King Charles.
We’ll also look at some of the number plates associated with Royal Family vehicles, because, well, we love number plates.
Let’s jump in with the official Royal Fleet of State cars.
The Royal Fleet of State Vehicles.
As it stands, the Royal Family has a fleet of five State vehicles.
It consists of a couple of Bentley limousines and three Rolls-Royces, with the limousines valued at approximately £10,000,000 each and the Bentleys ranging in value from £700,000 to over £2.5 million in today’s market.
Both of the limos were commissioned for Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, and they feature strengthened bodywork and glass, as well as an air-tight cabin in case of a gas-related attack.
They’re also the only two ever built, making them the rarest of Bentleys in existence.
The Rolls-Royces include a 1950 Phantom IV, a 1978 Phantom VI, and a 1987 Phantom VI, all of which could be seen at some stage during the King’s Coronation.
Take a look at one of the Rolls-Royces above, which houses the Crown’s coat of arms on the roof, as do all State vehicles.
The Number Plates of The Royal State Cars.
The Royal Family’s State vehicles don’t have number plates, and they’re the only vehicles in the UK that don’t require them.
Another thing the Bentley State Limousines are without is petrol or diesel, with both being converted to run on biofuel in 2009, as per Kings Charles’ request.
Let’s take a look at some of King Charles’ personal cars, and of course, their royal private number plates.
King Charles’ personal cars.
King Charles is known to be a bit of a petrol, or biofuel, head, and he has a long-term love affair with beautiful cars. The most famous of which is probably his Aston Martin DB6 Volante, a gift from his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Presented to him on his 21st birthday, the 1970 Aston Martin masterpiece also runs on biofuel, just like the Royal State vehicles. This biofuel is said to be comprised of surplus alcohol produced from wine making, and was introduced at the behest of the then Prince Charles.
Averaging around 8.3mpg on standard fuel and even less on biofuel, the Aston Martin isn’t exactly fuel-efficient and wouldn’t be great in many real-life situations. However, since it sees less than 300 miles of driving time a year, it’s not much of an issue for The King. The reg that sits on this one is EBY 776J.
The Royal Jaguar I-PACE
A particularly interesting Royal vehicle comes in the form of the Loire Blue Jaguar I-Pace, which is the Royal Family’s first all-electric car.
Purchased (with his own money) by Charles for £60,000 in 2018, the royal I-PACE boasts around 300 miles in range, and is housed at the King’s Clarence House home.
The private registration for the Royal Jaguar I-PACE is OU19 VVL.
MYT 1
It’s difficult to talk about Royal number plates without mentioning MYT 1.
Purchased for the late Queen Elizabeth by Charles in the early 1960s, MYT1 is said to be a reference to the official title of the Queen at the time.
The title, and I hope you’re ready for this, is “Most High, Most Mighty, and Most Excellent Monarch, Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.”
Which wouldn’t fit on a number plate. So, MYT 1 will have to do.
MYT 1 was first spotted on a 1961 Vauxhall Cresta PA Estate, and it’s one of the rare occasions the Queen herself was seen driving a vehicle, as you can see below.
In later years, the MYT 1 registration adorned The Queen’s personal Range Rover, which was modified for hunting with a gun rack, for fishing with a rod holder in the roof, and also included a dog guard for her corgis.
And let’s take this moment to say RIP to Queen Elizabeth II, from everyone at National Numbers.
Buy the perfect private number plate with National Numbers.
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