Yahoo Autos Prince Philip Spent His Life with Land Rovers, and This One Will Carry Him to His Funeral
The outspoken Prince, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, reportedly once said of his funeral arrangements: "Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor."
Prince Philip, who passed away at age 99 late last week, will indeed be traveling to his funeral in a Land Rover Defender 130 "gun bus," a vehicle meant for hunting expeditions that was outfitted to his specifications by Foley Specialist Vehicles.
The royal family's loyalty to the U.K. Land Rover brand is well known, and Prince Philip was a Land Rover loyalist, so the Defender's appearance at this solemn event feels entirely appropriate.
UPDATE 4/15/2021: The British Royal Family released these images today (above and below) of the Land Rover Defender 130 in which Prince Philip will be carried to funeral services. It is a modified Defender TD5 130 chassis-cab truck made at Land Rover's Solihull, England, factory in 2003 based on modifications requested personally by the late Duke of Edinburgh. There are special stops to hold his coffin in place in the back.
Anyone married to the reigning monarch of an important country is likely to be in a position to drive pretty much anything that takes their fancy. But Prince Philip, a.k.a. the Duke of Edinburgh, the long-serving consort to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, was a Land Rover loyalist for most of his long life. He died late last week at the age of 99 and, appropriately, he is set to take his final ride in a modified Defender that he helped to design himself.
Land Rover's relationship with the British royal family goes back almost to the company’s origins. The 100th vehicle built was presented to King George VI, the Queen's father. But Land Rover was still a single-model offshoot of the larger Rover car company when Elizabeth became queen in 1952, and Philip’s initial choice of wheels as her consort was more skewed towards traditional British sports cars, including such obscure gems as a 1954 Lagonda 3.0-liter drophead coupe and a 1961 Alvis TD21 Series II convertible. But by the 1970s—and the launch of the Range Rover—the Duke's long-term relationship with posher Land Rover products got underway. He seems to have owned, leased, or at least driven one of every generation of Range Rover.
