A FLEETING memory from childhood is of lining up among a group of schoolmates, waving tiny Union Flags as The Queen swept by in her limousine. Unfortunately, the emotion of the occasion was one of disappointment, as the monarch turned her head to wave to children on the other side of the road and the royal chauffeur was driving way too fast for us to catch more than a blur of pink. Having waited for an eternity, she was gone in a moment.
However, the shining black conveyance itself was visually stunning, a veritable black beauty. This would have been a Phantom V or Phantom VI State Landaulette, with especially high-sided windows that were intended to grant watching crowds a good view of their Queen and which were part of a series of Rolls-Royce models inextricably associated with the Windsors.
The most exclusive of the series was the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, made by the company between 1950 and 1956. Reportedly, only 18 were ever made, reserved for royals and heads of state around the world, including the Shah of Iran, the Aga Khan III and King Faisal II of Iraq. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh had taken ownership of the very first one in 1950. It was fitted with a specially modified driver's seat, with concern for the height of the Duke, who had made it known that he intended to take the wheel himself on occasion. It was painted in royal claret and black two years later for The Queen's first public engagement following the death of George VI, when she was driven in the Phantom to attend the Maundy Service at Westminster Abbey on April 10, 1952. The vehicle would remain in royal service for more than 40 years.
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin May 25, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin May 25, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
