On the throne for seventy years, on 8 September 2022 the Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II passed away peacefully at the age of 96. He is succeeded by his eldest son who became Charles III of England.
Queen Elizabeth, who has always presented herself to the world with the formality required by the Buckingham Palace protocols and the refinement that distinguishes royalty, has never hidden one of her passions beyond dogs and horses as a good Englishman: motors!
Auxiliary Territorial Service
Although King George VI, Elizabeth's father was very opposed to the enlistment of his daughter, his daughter's tenacity prevailed so much so that at 19 she enlisted in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service), a female and auxiliary component of the British army that dissolved in 1949. The organization of this corps, similar in objectives to the US WAAC (Women's Auxiliary Army Corps), highlighted the importance of a multiservice and logistic reserve within an armed force.
Elisabetta, finding a compromise with her father, chose a logistic course as a mechanic and conductor of military vehicles which he carried out at the Aldershot Military Town, a military area similar to our Cecchignola. At the end of the course she found herself driving box trucks (type Bedford QL, Leyland Hippo) ambulances and learned to service heavy vehicles without worrying about getting dirty by lying down under a vehicle or putting his hands in the engine. She is truly an admirable and dynamic woman.
Elton John and Nick Mason
Among the countless artists and friends who attended Buckingham Palace, two are absolutely attributable to Elizabeth's passion for cars: singer Elton John and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, both passionate supercars collectors. Elton John owns a hundred Jaguars while Nick Mason honors Italy, the land of motors par excellence, as an expert Ferrari collector.
The photo of Queen Elizabeth II who, during a visit to the drummer, asks to be able to check the oil of a pony racing car (photo) made the rounds of all the media. The passion for motor racing also generally involves royal families and the Windsors in particular are no exception.
In addition to nautical competitions offshore, the real cheering is obviously for McLaren, the British formula 1 team.
Aston Martin and Land Rover
As an alternative to parade carriages, the Windsor dynasty seems to have grown fond of the Land Rover and Aston Martin brands, leaving Rolls Royce, Bentley and Jaguar a purely institutional role. A sporting choice, albeit an elite one, as they have always been described in the news.
As long as she could, Queen Elizabeth personally guided them Discovery which he preferred over Freelander owned by him, leaving the real driver at his side or using him only for institutional representation tasks.
In 2015 during a horse racing event Royal Windsor Horse Show, personally introduced herself to driving the Range Rover in which she was carrying her bodyguards, but it is not difficult to come across images of her driving a Jaguar without using a seat belt. Anything is allowed for a queen.
His son Carlo, like his nephews William and Harry, prefer the custom-built Aston Martin and his mother Elisabetta gave Carlo a DB6 for his 21 years. Even the Emir of Bahrain in 1989 paid homage to Carlo with another Aston Martin, a V8 Vantage Volante with automatic transmission. Carlo, who is obviously a driving purist, had it modified by replacing the transmission with a traditional 5-speed manual gearbox.
An excellence without a license
Being the head of a state in the United Kingdom relieves many burdens including that of having a driving license on the national territory.The British law in fact establishes that the queen does not need to take exams to obtain a license as she is the highest authority in charge of validating the license. concession.
Photo: Imperial War Museums / Twitter
