Two more chances to buy a car fit for the royals!

30th April 2021, 9:47am
4 min read
Two more chances to buy a car fit for the royals!
  • Two former royal cars to go under the hammer at auctions in May
  • Bonhams will sell a Range Rover formerly driven by Prince William
  • Princess Margaret’s Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith to be sold by H&H

A Bentley Mulsanne formerly owned by the Queen and valued at £200,000 sold almost as quickly as it was listed last week. But no fear royal car fans, for there are two other pieces of Windsor automotive history up for grabs, and at prices that wouldn’t break the bank either!

If you’ve got an expanding family or fancy a bit of off-road action, a 2013 Range Rover Vogue SE is going up for auction with a lower guide price of just £30,000. Or if you have eyes for a classic, you can snap up a 1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II valued between £45,000 and £55,000.

The owners? The Range Rover was supplied to the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, and the Rolls-Royce was owned by Princess Margaret for 22 years. Not a bad name to have on the log book then!

Originally supplied to Prince William via the Land Rover VIP Department, the Vogue SE was regularly used for his growing family and was photographed on an official visit to Perthshire.

With a 340bhp 4.4-litre V8 diesel engine, baltic blue paintwork, 20 inch alloy wheels and an almond and espresso leather interior, this is a top of the range model and comes with plenty of added extras including parking assist, heated front and rear seats, panoramic glass roof and even a drinks fridge!

Other features include a Meridian sound system, remote garage door opener, electric tow bar, premium carpets and full a safety kit. Unusually, it retains the same registration plate from the royal ownership.

It’s covered less than 39,000 miles, has a full service history with warranty and will go under the hammer at Bonham’s auction at Bicester Heritage on 22 May.

The Rolls-Royce was supplied new to Princess Margaret and tailored to her personal specification.

With 48,000 warranted miles on the clock, the Silver Wraith is one of just 2,135 models made, and is believed to have hosted The Queen, Princess Diana and Roland Reagan during its time in service.

Popular with the world’s elite, this particular version has plenty of features specific for the Countess of Snowdon, including customised piping on the front and rear seats, a false floor at the rear, a low back seat squab, enlarged C-post vanity mirrors, small spotlights on each rear cantrail, green cloth upholstery throughout and black leather on much of the dashboard and centre consoles.

Unusually, the glovebox contains a switch for the roof-mounted police escort light, which needed to be instantly accessible. The roof above the windscreen has been modified to accommodate a flag mast and illuminated shield, with the whole car tailored to Princess Margaret’s specification in less than five months. Some of the more unique features were transferred from her previous car, and it remained in her custody until she passed away in 2002.

Its last duty as an official royal car was to transfer family members to her funeral at Windsor Castle on 15 February 2002, and was then passed down to The Earl of Snowdown, David Linley. The vehicle is included in H&H’s Imperial War Museum sale at Duxford on 26 May.

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Written by Richard Randle

Richard Randle is a motorsport PR professional working with the UK’s top racing circuits and the UK’s premier single-seater category, the BRDC British F3 Championship.