The state and royal cars of the United Kingdom are kept at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, where a wide range of state road vehicles (including horse-drawn carriages) are kept and maintained. The vehicles also are stored at other royal residences as required.
These cars can be separated into State Cars, Semi-State Cars, State Royal Review Vehicles, Mews support cars and private vehicles.
State Cars are used for public engagements and on ceremonial occasions by the monarch and those representing them or supporting their role as head of state. There are currently five State Cars: two Bentleys and three Rolls-Royces. They are used by the monarch on state and formal occasions, and may also be used by senior members of the Royal Family for official duties. They have been used by the monarch when travelling abroad, as well as at home, and are also made available for heads of state visiting the UK.photo State vehicles do not display registration plates.
Semi-State Cars are used for less formal situations and general support; unlike the State Cars, they display registration plates. Currently a pair of 2012 Jaguar XJ Limousines and three 2022 Range Rover models are employed in this role. (Footage of the state cars and semi-state cars driving in convoy).
State Royal Review Vehicles are modified cars designed to carry one or more members of the royal family as standing passengers, for increased visibility at official parades and ceremonies. The current such car is a 2015 Range Rover Hybrid; as a state vehicle it does not have number plates.
A comparatively recent addition to the Royal Mews fleet is the State hearse, which was first used in 2022 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In addition the Royal Mews maintains an array of Land Rovers, Range Rovers, luggage brakes and minibuses for official royal use. These do have number plates, as do the monarch's personal vehicles and those of other members of the royal family.
General description
All the state and 'semi-state' vehicles are painted with a distinctive dual-toned colour scheme (or livery), which dates from the reign of King Edward VII: below the beltline, they are painted in Royal Claret (a deep wine colour 'that out of the sunlight looks almost black'), while above the beltline, they are painted Mason's Black; they also feature discrete vermilion pinstriping.
State cars past and present have tended to be limousines with a long-wheelbase, jump seats and a powerful engine for speed when required. They are designed to be imposing and dignified forms of transport for the Head of State. Characteristic design features - such as a raised roofline, bright interior illumination and enlarged windows and sunroofs - enable onlookers to see the occupants.
On the bonnet of each State and Semi-State Car, there is a mount to which a mascot may be attached. The mascot used depends on the occupant and the location. Three mascots, which have passed through the family, are frequently seen: St George and the Dragon is seen on the Monarch's car in England; a Lion is seen on the Monarch's car in Scotland; and Britannia is also seen, a mascot used by George V, George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (which was used after her death by Charles III, when he was Prince of Wales). When the car is not on state business the standard manufacturers' mascot is used.
The State and Semi-State cars have fittings on the roof for a shield and a flagstaff. When used by the Sovereign, the shield displays the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom and Royal Standard is flown (or, where relevant, one of the sovereign's other flags with an appropriate shield may be used). At one time, use of the Standard was limited to 'major function[s] where there are troops, or the Streets are lined, or there is a Guard of Honour to be inspected',Memorandum of the Crown Equerry, 1955, quoted in Smith (1976). and the sovereign's standard signified which car was to be saluted. Since the 1950s the monarch's cars have been provided with back-lit shields which are illuminated at night. Other Coats of Arms and flags are used, depending on the purpose and context of the journey. Some senior members of the Royal Family display their shields; otherwise, a red shield with a crown is displayed if the car is carrying 'another Member of the Royal Family or someone representing the [sovereign]', or is part of a royal procession.
The State and official vehicles are driven by royal chauffeurs, overseen by the Head Chauffeur and (as part of the Royal Mews Department) under the overall supervision of the Crown Equerry. The State Cars are numbered, with cars one and two being normally (but not exclusively) reserved for the use of the monarch. The monarch is always driven by the Head, Deputy Head or Assistant Head Chauffeur; several 'first chauffeurs' are responsible for driving other members of the Royal Family, and general duties are undertaken by the 'second chauffeurs'. The chauffeurs are also responsible for day-to-day care and maintenance of the motor vehicles.
State and royal cars in the 20th century
The history of royal motor cars in Britain goes back to the very beginning of the last century. At that time the Daimler Motor Company had recently established itself as Britain's first automotive manufacturer.
The Daimler era
For the first half of the 20th century, Daimlers were invariably chosen as the monarch's state cars (and the company also built vehicles for several other members of the Royal Family). During that period, royal cars were coachbuilt and, as far as the monarch's cars were concerned, Hooper & Co. were almost invariably employed (they already held royal warrants for carriage building dating from as early as 1830).
Edward VII
The first royal motorist was King Edward VII, who (when still Prince of Wales) took delivery of his first car, a 6 hp Daimler, in June 1900. Hooper & Co. built the body of the car, which is described as a mail phaeton. The future king continued to be an enthusiastic promoter of the motor car, and that same year he ordered two more vehicles from Daimler: a 12 hp wagonette and a 'beaters' car' (the latter with seating for up to fourteen passengers).
Following his accession to the throne in 1901, he awarded Daimler his royal warrant, converted part of the Royal Mews into a garage for the motor cars and ordered another new Daimler: a 22 hp 'touring carriage' painted in 'dark claret with fine red lines'. The King used his motor cars for travelling (both in the UK and on mainland Europe) and on other appropriate occasions, but they did not entirely displace horse-drawn transport; indeed, in 1904 the King issued a directive to make it clear that 'electric broughams and motor carriages should not be used for taking members of the Royal family or their suites to Court or other State ceremonies at the Palace'. The first time a motor car was used by the King for an official engagement was on 19 October 1904, when he was driven to and from Woolwich Garrison in a 28-36 hp Daimler with a limousine body, acquired a few month earlier.
The Prince of Wales (the future King George V) had purchased an electric car in 1902, and a Daimler the following year (the first of many that he would acquire over the ensuing years). The Princess of Wales (the future Queen Mary) acquired her first Daimler in 1905, opting for a Mulliner-built body (Mulliner remained her coachbuilder of choice up until the accession of her husband five years later). She had the car painted a shade of green taken from the foliage of a fir tree in the grounds of York Cottage, a colour which she continued to use for her personal cars up to and including her last (a 1947 Daimler DE 27).
Edward VII died in 1910. Over the course of the preceding decade he had owned ten Daimlers in total, having upgraded his fleet every few years in line with technological advances. During the same period of time he had acquired other cars for private use: three Mercedes, and a Renault landaulette (bought for the Queen); but on official occasions he had always used a Daimler. One of these, a 1907 shooting brake, was given a registration plate (LD 4352) after the king's death and retained by his widow Queen Alexandra until she died in 1925. She also regularly used a 1910 57 hp Landaulette (registered LB 7078) on official and public occasions, which the late King had ordered but hadn't lived to see delivered (she remained very fond of this car and transferred its body to a brand new chassis in 1923).
George V
By the time of his coronation, King George V had a working fleet of four cars kept at the Royal Mews, according to a contemporary report, along with a shooting brake and a lorry. The full fleet of cars stayed with the King at whichever royal residence he was using, usually being driven on the road to Windsor and Sandringham, but transported by rail to Balmoral. As Prince of Wales, George V had acquired an early sleeve valve Daimler in 1909: a 38 hp straight four limousine, and Queen Mary acquired a similar car the following year (which was painted dark green and used for private journeys); but the principal pre-war limousines were a pair of 57 hp straight-six-engined cars, which had a long wheelbase and seating for up to six passengers. In these (and subsequent) cars, King George and Queen Mary habitually occupied the middle pair of bucket seats on official occasions, so as to be better seen by onlookers as the car passed, while their equerries and ladies in waiting sat to the rear.
Whether for official or personal use, these cars were almost invariably chauffeur-driven. In 1913, the King, responding to a question from a journalist, said that while he knew how to drive, he never drove in public (but sometimes drove cars on his private estates, at Sandringham and Balmoral). His wife Queen Mary was never known to drive herself.
By the start of the First World War a number of conventions had emerged with regard to royal cars, several of which remain in place, including: the use of 'claret' livery for the royal cars the painting of a royal crest or badge on two or more door panels the use of a distinctive personal 'mascot' on the radiator cap (beginning with a figure of Britannia, given to George V on the occasion of his coronation) from 1911 the display of the royal arms on a shield and/or flag to improve recognition increased headroom (George V stipulated 60 inches from floor to ceiling), to make access easier for those wearing headwear (specifically 'a field marshal's hat with plume') the provision of interior electric lighting the convention that vehicles used personally by the monarch carried no registration plates (this latter exception did not extend to all vehicles owned by the monarch, only to those used by him personally). Later in the King's reign, the distinction between State vehicles and the monarch's personal vehicles was made clearer, with the latter no longer being exempted from registration.
Up until the Second World War, State cars were given the additional distinguishing feature of a black-painted radiator grille (in preference to the usual chrome or bright finish). From 1923, the King's vehicles were fitted with a blue light, 'placed in the centre over the driver's canopy' to signal the King's presence by night.
On large State occasions (and for some less formal gatherings), additional cars were required; these were often provided by hire firms, including Daimler Hire Ltd in London and Rossleigh Ltd in Edinburgh.
By 1924, the monarch's cars had been in 'constant service for upwards of 14 years' and a new set of Daimlers were ordered through Stratton-Instone (which had recently taken over Daimler's London showrooms): two limousines and two shooting brakes, all with the most up-to-date 57 hp straight-six engine. The following year Queen Mary had a new limousine delivered, with Hooper bodywork like the King's new cars but on a shorter ('45 hp') chassis.