Prince Philip Designed His Own Hearse

He will be taken to funeral in modified Land Rover
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 16, 2021 7:03 AM CDT
Prince Philip Designed His Own Hearse
The Jaguar Land Rover that will be used to transport the coffin of the Duke of Edinburgh at his funeral on Saturday, is pictured at Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, England, Wednesday, April 14, 2021.   (Steve Parsons/Pool Photo via AP)

Prince Philip was a big fan of Land Rovers—and he will be taken to his funeral in one that he helped design. Buckingham Palace says the 99-year-old worked with Land Rover beginning in 2003 on the modified vehicle, which has an open top rear section designed to his specifications, reports Reuters. The palace says the modifications the prince designed include "stoppers" to hold the coffin in place, the BBC reports. The prince, who served in the Royal Navy during World War II, also requested a repaint in a darker military green. The last changes were made in 2019. According to the Telegraph, he once told wife Queen Elizabeth II that he didn't want a fancy funeral and said, "Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor."

The prince died at Windsor Castle, and the Land Rover hearse will not be making a long journey: It will be used to take his coffin across castle grounds to St. George's Chapel for the funeral Saturday. Plans for a 22-mile journey from central London were dropped because of the pandemic. The number of mourners will be limited to 30. It's not clear who will be driving the Land Rover, though the Queen would have little difficulty doing so: Like Philip, she often drove Land Rovers and she learned to drive and fix numerous military vehicles, including Land Rover predecessors, during her military service in World War II. (A potentially tricky situation with military uniforms for the funeral has been avoided.)

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