How Queen Elizabeth freaked out a Saudi king while driving him around in a Land Rover (2024)

• Queen Elizabeth II of England died on Thursday at the age of 96.
• Before taking the throne in 1952 she served as a mechanic in the military during World War II.
• She was known as a car enthusiast, and her enthusiasm once made another world leader nervous.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died in 2015, age disputed but well into at least his 80s. His death sparked a number of stories about his life, travels, and interactions with foreign heads of state.

One such "interaction" was with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

While still a crown prince, Abdullah visited the Queen's castle in Scotland, Balmoral, in 2003 and she offered him a tour of the place. When the cars were brought around and Abdullah got in the front passenger seat, the Queen herself hopped into the driver's seat.

Turns out the Queen knows a thing or two about bombing around in a motor vehicle. The monarch served with the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II.

As princess, she wanted to join the women serving as drivers, bakers, postal workers, ammunition inspectors, and mechanics to free up men for the front lines. She remains the only female member of the royal family to join the military and was the only living head of state to serve in World War II.

No only did the Queen get into the driver's seat — she didn't even hesitate before turning the car on and rolling out. And as an army driver during a war, she knew how to roll along Scotland's winding roads.

British diplomat Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles recounted for The Sunday Times that during an audience with Her Majesty, she told Coles that she was talking to Abdullah the whole time, even as he pleaded for her to pay attention to the road:

"As instructed, the crown prince climbed into the front seat of the front Land Rover, with his interpreter in the seat behind. To his surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off. Women are not — yet — allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia and Abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman, let alone a queen.

His nervousness only increased as the Queen, an army driver in wartime, accelerated the Land Rover along the narrow Scottish estate roads, talking all the time. Through his interpreter, the crown prince implored the Queen to slow down and concentrate on the road ahead."

Queen Elizabeth II didn't even have a driver's license. As Queen, she didn't need one.

This story was originally published in 2017.