A ROYAL BENTLEY DRIVER

Allan Wright saw our coverage in 2022 of our own Royal Family’s cars and decided to write and tell us of those belonging to another Royal – Frederik IX, the last King of Denmark, Allan’s home.

Amongst the European royals with a passion for Bentley cars was the late King Frederik IX of Denmark. From his early youth he was known as a keen motorist, buying his first vehicle at the age of 18 in 1918 and passionately enjoyed his driving, until his death at the age of 72. His first cars were of various marques and origins but from 1950 he favoured the cars from Crewe. In 1936, whilst still a Crown Prince, he married Princess Ingrid of Sweden who was also known as a skilled - and fast - driver, but she had a soft spot for Jaguars and owned no less than 12 cars of this marque from the MkVII in 1954 onwards to Her Majesty’s last XJ40 in 1992.

King Frederik bought his first Bentley as early as in June 1950. It was a graceful MkVI Park Ward DHC – chassis no. B413FU, which as soon as April 1952 was followed by a similar car, chassis no. B117NY. His Majesty skipped the R-type, but when the S-type made its entrance, an H. J. Mulliner DHC, chassis no. B299AP, was ordered and delivered at the Royal Palace, Amalienborg, in Copenhagen in April 1956. This car was then replaced with an S2 Standard HJM DHC, chassis no. B206BS, in September 1960 and it was on duty until March 1965 when it was substituted by an S3 Mulliner Park Ward DHC Continental, chassis no. BC16XD. The King’s last personal automobile was a T-Type MPW DHC, delivered in 1969.

From March 1958 and until the present day, the Danish Royal State Car is a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Limousine by Hooper, design no. 8460, chassis no. LGLW25. This car presents itself in a special nuance of Danish Royal Blue – a colour designed by the King himself which was also used for the Bentleys – and for Queen Ingrid’s Jaguars.

Common for King Frederik’s six Bentleys were the dark blue colour of the exterior and light grey interior. All of them were Drop Head Coupes and had right-hand steering, which was very unusual as right-hand driving was introduced in Denmark as early as the late 18th century. But King Frederik’s first cars were RHD and he remained loyal to this system. All the Bentleys also wore identical license plates – a golden crown and 461. Under this number King Frederik served as a naval officer in his youth. Furthermore, he had in one of the cars some special signalling equipment installed: namely a tram bell and a horn from a ferry. It would cause quite a stir when the bell sounded in the narrow streets of a small village where a tram had never set its tracks, or when the ferry horn could be loudly heard in the countryside. As a sovereign, his Majesty of course had chauffeurs at his disposal but preferred to drive the Bentleys himself – also at formal occasions. In these situations, he was often accompanied by his wife, Queen Ingrid, and occasionally also by one or more of his daughters in the back seat. The chauffeur on duty then followed in another vehicle or sat in the back of the Bentley.

The King died in January 1972 and Queen Ingrid decided that the remaining T-Type should be retained but not used by anyone. For more than 30 years the Bentley was stored at the Royal stables, but a few years after Queen Ingrid’s death, the car was permanently lent out and transported to the island of Fyn, where it joined His Majesty’s second MkVI and his S1 in a private car collection – the Strøjer Samling. The S3 is now in private hands and has been refinished in green.

Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II took over after her father as Sovereign of Denmark. The Queen does not drive herself but also uses Bentleys – an Arnage followed by a Mulsanne which recently has been complemented by a Bentayga SUV (does it stand for Sickening Ungainly Vehicle?) which is no doubt a fantastic VW, but in my opinion a Bentley it is certainly not.

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If you fancy seeing your own Rolls-Royce or Bentley within these pages, it couldn’t be easier! We’re interested in any model of any age – and even its condition isn’t important, as we’re just as keen to see ongoing projects as we are potential prize-winners. All you need to do is email us a small selection of good quality jpeg images – and we’ll do the rest. Within your email, don’t forget to tell us a bit of history about your car, details of any work carried out, or perhaps your future plans for it. The more information, the better!

Email us at rrb.ed@kelsey.co.uk – and don’t forget to send your photographs full- size. The higher the resolution, the larger we can use your images. If you’d prefer to send non-digital photographs by post, that’s also no problem. Simply write to: The Editor, Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL.

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