LAST MISSION
Car-loving Duke designed special Land Rover that took him on final journey
It was an eccentric touch perfectly in keeping with the car-loving Duke’s mischievous wit.
Prince Philip’s specially adapted Land Rover hearse took centre stage at his send-off .
We tracked down the chief engineer who told us in an exclusive interview how he worked on the vehicle – designed to the Duke’s exact specifications.
Steve Routly revealed the vehicle dreamed up by the Queen’s husband was kept in a hush-hush, temperature-controlled compound for more than a decade a few miles from the Jaguar Land Rover HQ in Coventry.
Just 30 engineers were trusted to work on it. And the coffin was specially made-to-measure at the same time to perfectly fit the vehicle.
Steve, 54, who left the car giant two years ago, said: “It’s a special temperature- controlled compound.
“Not many people in the company know it even exists.
“The Duke’s Land Rover has been in there for a decade being regularly serviced and looked after, just in case it was needed.
“I suspect the new chief executive of the company, Thierry r ry Bol lore, probably ably didn’t know aboutut the vehicle until very recently.
“The project wass secret and not many peoplee would have been told about it.” t.”
Steve, who now runs his own engineering consultancy firm, added: “The coffin was made at the same time because the rollers had to be measured to the exact size.
“Basically, the vehicle and the coffin go as a pair. The vehicle was essential ly a completelycompl bespoke buibuildld oon a 130 Defender cchassis. “It wasn’t a difficult build compared to a lot of otherh projects.j “All the body panels for the doors were hand-built and unique.
“They weren’t built on any other vehicle. There were two built,
one as a spare. The car was in a different green to start with, but was repainted.”
The Duke’s decision came after a long personal association with the iconic British brand. He had a close relationship with the company’s bosses and repeatedly visited their Solihull headquarters after starting the design of the hearse in 2003, when he was aged 82.
He had also previously converted a similar 16- seat gun- bus vehicle, ENGINEER
known as “The Jumbo”, for use by shooting parties on the royal estates.
The Royal Family have used Land Rovers for decades and the company has produced four state ceremonial vehicles for the Queen.
The latest Land Rover State Review vehicle, which was delivered in 2015, is a hybrid and can run on purely electric power for low-speed ceremonial duties.
Steve, who lives in Ilmington, Warwickshire, added: “We’ve done hundreds of special projects and one-offs for the company over the decade, but this was a really special one for the team.
“He was a strong Land Rover fan and he drove them right until the end. It’s the ultimate honour for the entire team. We’re just enormously proud and humbled. It was emotional seeing it, to be honest.
“The original plan was the vehicle would be used from central London to Windsor which is about 20 miles.
“With Covid, I thought it might not be used at all given the funeral was enclosed within Windsor Castle. But the Duke obviously had very strong wishes which the Royal Family have respected.”
Colleague Bob Honnor added: “The craftsmanship and love that went into its production can clearly be seen.”
Bob added before the funeral: “It will be heavily tinged with sadness we had to lose such a great man for it to come out of storage.”