Story of the Official State Car of the British Royalty: Queen Elizabeth & King Charles love for Phantom

Charles III was chauffeured around London in the same Rolls-Royce that was built 72 years ago for Princess Elizabeth. The Rolls-Royce Phantom is one of the most loved cars by the Royal Family.

On Monday, King Charles III was driven across London in the same Rolls-Royce that was built 72 years ago for his mother, Princess Elizabeth. The Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, one of only 18 ever built, had been owned by Queen Elizabeth II since 1950 and had appeared at numerous state functions. The King was taken from Buckingham Palace to RAF Northolt on a poignant day for the Royal family, where he boarded a flight to Edinburgh for a family vigil at St Giles' Cathedral. In place of the Spirit of Ecstasy, the silver figurine traditionally used on Rolls-Royce vehicles, the royal car was seen with one of the late Queen's own mascots on the bonnet.

The bespoke silver sculpture depicts St George on a horse poised over a slain dragon and was designed in 1952, the same year Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne, by Edward Seago, the late English artist.

When Rolls-Royce made the Best Car in the World

When the monarch is not using the Rolls-Royce, the mascot can be transferred from car to car, allowing it to be changed back to the Spirit of Ecstasy.

The Royal family was looking for a car for Princess Elizabeth in 1949, when her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, drove a Bentley with a Rolls-Royce engine and was impressed, according to the manufacturer. “For Rolls-Royce, a decades-long wish was about to be fulfilled; at last, it would be asked to build the ‘best car in the world for the royal family of its home country,” mentioned in the history of the car on BMW's website.

In 1950, the princess received the first Phantom IV model after it had been pampered with "every imaginable luxury." The manufacturer went on to say, “In the automotive world, the Phantom IV was the best of the best. The British royal family was the first to tread this exalted path, and just a few, very special dignitaries around the world have managed to follow in their tyre tracks.”

According to palace representatives, the car was originally ordered by Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh and painted Edinburgh Green with the Duke's requests for many alterations. It was initially their private car, so it had a registration number, in an effort to encourage the British public to consider purchasing their own vehicle. Until now, nearly all royal vehicles were Daimlers or Lanchesters, according to officials. It was repainted in the sovereign's color scheme of royal claret and black upon Princess Elizabeth's accession to the throne and became an official state car.

It was used to transport Queen Elizabeth to her first royal engagement as monarch, a Maundy Service at Westminster Abbey in London, on April 10, 1952. After the traditional grand procession was canceled due to a national railroad strike two years later, in June 1955, the monarch was driven to the state opening of Parliament in a Rolls-Royce. It has been used for several major state occasions since then, albeit without the distinctive mascot on the bonnet. The Rolls-Royce most recently transported the Duchess of Sussex on the day of her marriage to the Duke of Sussex at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in 2018.

It was also used in 2011 to transport the King and Queen to the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales at Westminster Abbey. When the King arrived in Edinburgh on Monday, he was met by another of the Royal family's Rolls-Royces, this time a Phantom VI.

The figurine on the Rolls-Royce in Edinburgh was replaced with the Scottish Lion Rampant, which was used on the late Queen's official vehicles whenever she visited Scotland. Queen Elizabeth had two Rolls-Royce Phantom VIs, one for her Silver Jubilee in 1977 and another in 1968. The King then proceeded to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the sovereign's official Edinburgh residence, and followed the hearse carrying the late Queen's coffin to St Giles' Cathedral, where a memorial service was held in her honor.