The Daily Telegraph has provided some light-hearted relief, recounting the tale of Her Majesty's Bentley State Limousine, which stalled for a short period after divine service at Sandringham, Norfolk:
IT IS normally no laughing matter when your car will not start on a freezing cold day.
But the Queen evidently saw the funny side when her state Bentley, said to be worth £10m, refused to come to life after a church service at Sandringham today [Sunday, 13/01/13].
Standing nearby, she was seen laughing and pointing as her chauffeur tried to coax the motor into action outside St Mary Magdalene church on the Norfolk estate.
The car's V8 6.75 litre engine finally spluttered into life at the seventh attempt and the Queen, wearing a checked black and white coat with a white hat decorated with black bows, climbed in for the quarter-of-a-mile drive back to Sandringham House.
The Duke of Edinburgh walked to and from the church as normal, despite the freezing weather.
The car is one of two purpose-built Bentley state limousines owned by the Queen. They are the only two ever made and have been valued at £10m each.
The first of the cars was given to her by Bentley in 2002 to mark her Golden Jubilee and she was said to be so impressed with it that she ordered a second one.
Each of the motors is armoured and blast resistant, with kevlar-reinforced tyres and has a top speed of 130mph. Both were converted to run on biofuel in 2009.
The driver of the Bentley was the Queen's head chauffeur Joe Last, 65, who has worked for her since 1986.
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