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Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch in British historical past and by all accounts a lifelong driving enthusiast, 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 long run Queen joined the British army, serving in the womens’ Auxiliary Territory Services. She was the primary girl 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 properly obtained by the British public. Newspapers dubbed her Princess Auto Mechanic.
The Queen’s eagerness to serve within the warfare effort appeared to have kicked off a lifetime of driving enthusiasm. All through her 70-year reign, the Queen was known to drive a stick-shift Land Rover around her 20,000-acre estate, often scaring off poachers who most likely by no means anticipated the precise Queen of England to come back roaring round a bend.
She was additionally, it appears, a little bit of a pace demon. In a hilarious account from Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, we be taught of a time when then-Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz visited the Queen at her property and got the ride 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 International Minister, the urbane Prince Saud, an initially hesitant Abdullah had agreed. The royal Land Rovers have been drawn up in entrance of the fortress. 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. Girls will not be – 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 slender Scottish property roads, speaking on a regular basis. By way of his interpreter, the Crown Prince implored the Queen to decelerate and focus on the highway forward.
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Even as she entered old age, Her Majesty was frequently photographed at the wheel of one of her many customized Royal Land Rovers, all of which have 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 driven around 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 large and ongoing modifications in the best way societies work. In recent times, many individuals have rightly begun to re-examine the function of the British Monarchy in the UK and around the globe. 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 bear in mind Queen Elizabeth because the ambulance-driving, truck-fixing pace demon of the Royal Household. In that manner, she was certainly one of us.