Royals Behind the Wheel

[liv]

I wondered if Royals drive for private occasions on their own. Post pics to prove!:)

[liv]

sorry here´s the pic

[liv]

(1)Diana (2) The Queen

[liv]

1 Anne

2Sophie
3Felipe
4Edward
5Rania

[sara1981]

what about Prince William and Prince Harry of his drives?

Sara Boyce

[Yennie]

swedish royals driving! Silvia and Madeleine leaving Solliden in july 2004

[Mascha]

Some more..:)

1&2 Queen Sofia
3 Prince Felipe
4 Prince Felipe
5 Prince Juan Carlos and Princess Sofia

[ElisaR]

Queen Sofia is so funny with that small car!


Two more of Queen Elizabeth.

- Driving a Vauxhall
- Royal Windsor Horse Show 1998

(Click to enlarge)

[Mette2]

Not pictures but a small video:

http://www.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_m...x.html?video_1

In the video there's a small sequence of Philippe driving his own car after Mathilde had been presented to the press for the first time, which doesn't really make it a private occasion :o. However, Philippe drove himself when he and Mathilde dropped Elisabeth off for her first day of school, and I've seen a newsclip of Philippe driving himself and Laurent driving himself on the day of Louise's christening/baptism - sorry I don't have any pictures of that. :o

[suturegeisha]

Friso and Mabel [before they were married, this was when Prince Claus was in the hospital].

[Mette2]

Paola driving to a photo shoot at the Roayl Palace of Laeken, so not really a private occasion either. :o

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...achmentid=7299

[Brian_Ahern]

The pictorial threads displaying the gorgeous young Paola showed a few photos where she seemed to take pleasure in showing off her driving expertise. There was one photo of her driving Albert in 1959, another of her about to climb behind the wheel of some little European compact in the sixties, and a fairly recent photo of her driving a Smart Car.

I know Prince Laurent recently got in trouble for his speed-demon ways. Does anyone know if all the royals frequently drive themselves? I assume all the men of the family do, but what about Fabiola and Mathilde?

Any replies would be much appreciated. I'm interested in royals and in cars, so royals driving cars...

[BeccaLynn07]

Here's a few threads I found about royals and their cars

Royal Cars
Royal Transportation (cars etc.)

Royal Transportation (cars, etc.)
Royal Transportation (cars etc.)

'unofficial' cars of danish members
'unofficial' cars of danish members

Hope you like!

[Brian_Ahern]

Thank you very much, BeccaLynn, for taking the trouble to post those.

Since Queen Ingrid was fond of taking the wheel, I suppose each of her daughters at least learned how to drive, whether or not they frequently do it. I've read on another board that Ingrid was caught speeding in her Jaguar around 1989, though I don't know if she was actually penalized. I also know that each of the British, Monagasque and Spanish royals also drive themselves much of the time, though Queen Sofia - surprisingly - is the only Spanish royal to be fined for speeding. Martha Louise of Norway recently got her trucking license for the sake of transporting her horses, Mette-Marit was recently in the news for illegally parking her Volvo SUV, and Maxima of the Netherlands had a well-publicized fender-bender while Prince Willem was riding shotgun just before their wedding.

I suppose every royal adult has a driver's license, since it is the 21st century. But if anyone has any other anecdotes/photos of the Belgian royals driving, I'd love to know about them (I suppose I should ask it be confined to the Belgians since I put this under this thread ).

[Verde Esmeralda]

As I watched "The Queen", I couldn't believe my eyes as Queen Elizabeth II is featured several times driving her own car, completely alone behind the wheel, no chaffeur or companion whatsoever. Honestly I didn't believe it.

But I was proven wrong. As you can see in Hola magazine's website, she DOES drive, even now that she is 81. Wow. My apologies for the disbelief, Your Majesty!!

Noticias breves de actualidad

[yvr girl]

Originally Posted by Verde Esmeralda

As I watched "The Queen", I couldn't believe my eyes as Queen Elizabeth II is featured several times driving her own car, completely alone behind the wheel, no chaffeur or companion whatsoever. Honestly I didn't believe it.

But I was proven wrong. As you can see in Hola magazine's website, she DOES drive, even now that she is 81. Wow. My apologies for the disbelief, Your Majesty!!

Noticias breves de actualidad

I'd imagine driving is one of her few 'normal' pleasures.

[Henri M.]

The Royal Stables in The Hague has a fleet of about 30 cars for the Queen and the members of the Royal House, by far most of them Volvo, since a few years. Besides these all members of the royal family have their own private cars:
Volvo (Queen Beatrix)
Volvo (Willem-Alexander)
Audi (Máxima)
Porsche (Friso)
Volvo (Constantijn)
Volvo (Laurentien)
Mercedes (Margriet)
Mercedes (Pieter)
Etc.

There are also around 90 other cars (mostly Volvo) for members of the royal household services.

For more than half a century the American brand Ford was favourite at the Netherlands Court, thanks to warm relationships between Prince Bernhard and the Ford family.

But since a few years the Court has switched to Volvo. The reason is not known. Maybe the Royal Stables and/or the Queen were no longer satisfied with the quality or whatever of Ford. Anyway: Volvo still is part of the Ford Motors Company, so the Dutch royals are still 'in the Ford family'.

HRH Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands arrives at the Concours Hippique in Rotterdam, 1956, with her first car, a birthday present by her father Prince Bernhard.
Picture

HRH Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands leaves her car after a private ride.
Picture

HRH Princess Beatrix and her car in front of the central hexagonal tower of her fairytale private estate 'Drakensteyn' (still in her private property).
Picture

HM Queen Beatrix arrives at the side-wing of Huis ten Bosch Palace where the her private appartments are. She leaves her private car, a Volvo XC90 fourwheeldrive.
Picture

HM Queen Beatrix in one of the Volvo limousines, this is the AA65
Picture and picture

HRH Princess Máxima was driven in this Volvo limousine, this is the AA95 (she is not in it as her standard is not waving while she is inside the building)
Picture

[TLLK]

Henri, Do you know if a member of their security detail is usually with the members of the Royal House when they're driving or are they following at a close distance?

[anirac]

Originally Posted by Henri M.

HM Queen Beatrix arrives at the side-wing of Huis ten Bosch Palace where the her private appartments are. She leaves her private car, a Volvo XC90 fourwheeldrive.
Picture

Sorry, I don't want to argue, but it seems to be a Ford Focus (look at the indicator light or the bodywork over the wheel). Perhaps now she has a Volvo, because the picture is from 2003. But believe in me, this is no Volvo. The XC90 is an off-road car and this is a limousine or an estate car.

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by anirac

Sorry, I don't want to argue, but it seems to be a Ford Focus (look at the indicator light or the bodywork over the wheel). Perhaps now she has a Volvo, because the picture is from 2003. But believe in me, this is no Volvo. The XC90 is an off-road car and this is a limousine or an estate car.

You are right, I was meant to post another picture, I will search for it. According to hollandcourier the Queen drives in a Volvo V70 XC which is a stationwagon with fourwheel drive.

Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima both drive in the Volvo XC90 a terrain vehicle indeed.

The details can be found in this book. From the Minerva in the 1920's to the Volvo of today.

Originally Posted by TLLK

Henri, Do you know if a member of their security detail is usually with the members of the Royal House when they're driving or are they following at a close distance?

There are always security cars following the most important royals. (= the Queen, the Prince of Orange, Princess Máxima, Princess Margriet,etc.) In public and in private. In the Netherlands and outside the Netherlands. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.