Robert Wilkins highlights the amazing history of how the Rolls-Royce was introduced into the Royal fleet of limousines.

Up to the time King George VI died, the Royal Fleet consisted of Daimlers. Meeting Princess Elizabeth on her arrival back in the UK following her father’s death was a suite of limousines which clearly came from an earlier age. It wasn’t long before the new monarch ushered in a new era in Royal Limousines.

In 1948 Rolls-Royce had built an experimental car based on a Bentley design, called the ‘Scalded Cat’. One of the people they leant this prototype to was Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. He was greatly taken with the car and subsequently Rolls-Royce put into production a very special limousine. A car designed purely for Royalty and Heads of State with an impressive 130mph top speed. The Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, as it came to be designated, was such an exclusive vehicle that only 18 were ever made, and remarkably 14 still survive to this day, several of which are in the ownership of descendants of the original owners.

The Phantom IV was fitted with a Straight Eight engine of 5,675 cc and had a wheel base of 12’ 1”. Indeed it is rumoured that the standard distance between UK parking meters was set at 19’ to accommodate the size of the vehicle!

The Duke of Edinburgh ordered a Phantom IV and when delivered was bodied as a formal limousine by H J Mulliner and was painted a dark shade of green. The interior had green leather seats to the front, Liebman Grey cloth to the rear with walnut veneer throughout and a nautical compass provided.

The rear carpet was a mohair rug with a green carpet in the front. The windows were electrically driven, along with the division and rear window blind. The division cabinet contained a clock, ashtray, lockable magazine rack and in the centre armrest was a radio, mirror, notepaper and writing implements. A small blue police light was fixed onto the roof along with fittings to accommodate the Royal couple’s heraldic shield and standard. The vehicle was christened ‘The Maharajah of Nabwa’.

Following Princess Elizabeth’s accession to the throne, the vehicle was sent to Hooper & Co who was commanded to prepare the Phantom IV as a State car. It was decided that the Royal Fleet needed a uniform identity and thus the Royal colour scheme of Royal Claret over Black with a vermillion coachline was established.

The Queen’s car was re-painted in this new livery. The Royal Coat of Arms was painted by hand on each of the rear doors and boot lid. The front compartment was re-trimmed in dark blue cloth. The Queen also decided that she wanted a personal mascot, as is the Royal tradition, and so a new mascot was designed by the artist Edward Seago.

This design was of Saint George mounted on a horse above a slain Dragon and was designed to be de-mountable and transferable to other vehicles.

It is still used today on any vehicle the Queen is transported in throughout the world, with the exception of Scotland where she uses the mascot of her mother, the Late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, a Lion. It was rumoured that the Phantom IV was the favoured limousine of Prince Charles and when in his service carried the mascot of Britannia atop the Globe which was originally made for King George V’s Royal Daimlers.

If used by the Duke of Edinburgh it carries his mascot of a heraldic lion wearing a crown. It is a testament to the exceptional qualities of the vehicle that the original limousine is still actively engaged as number five in the State fleet.

The Queen was so impressed with her new limousine that she decided to order another in 1958.The vehicle in question was actually built by Rolls-Royce in 1953 and had been kept in London for the sole use of the Royal Mews as occasions required.

This time the body style was a Landaulette, where the roof over the rear seats folded down when required, particularly useful in warmer climates. The coachbuilder this time was Hooper & Co, who ironically by this time were owned by Daimler, Rolls-Royce’s closest competitor, and slowly being phased out of the Royal Mews. The vehicle was christened ‘Jubilee’.

Indeed the Landaulette is still maintained in pristine condition in the Royal Mews at Sandringham House and is occasionally brought back into use for ceremonial occasions, despite having travelled over 100,000 miles on State occasions.