The British royal family has access to a luxurious fleet of cars, including vintage Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Jaguars, and an Aston Martin and it’s reported that the fleet is worth well over £6m.
Although determining the ownership status of these vehicles and therefore coming up with a figure is not straightforward.
The primary home of the motorcade of limousines and other luxury vehicles used by the family for formal occasions is the royal mews at Buckingham Palace. Although they are often referred to as "state cars," this does not necessarily mean they are owned by the state. Many car manufacturers have provided cars to the royal household, presumably to associate their brand with the British royal family.
For instance, Bentley provided two limousines in 2002 for Queen Elizabeth's golden jubilee, and one of them was reportedly flown out by the company to Germany for Charles's first state visit as king last month. These two vehicles alone are estimated to be worth at least £1.4m.
It would appear that some vehicles at the royal mews are held by the sovereign in right of the crown, meaning they are not the king's personal property, but others are owned privately by the Windsors - a 1950 Rolls-Royce Phantom IV estimated to be worth at least £2.5m was bought by Elizabeth and Philip before she became queen.
The mews also houses a 1962 Rolls-Royce Phantom V, which was bought by the queen mother and is believed to belong to Charles.
Additionally, a separate fleet of cars resides at the Windsors' private Sandringham estate in Norfolk. This collection of 12 vintage cars, estimated to be worth at least £1.8m in total, were formerly used by the royal household and are believed to be private property.
Charles also owns a 1970 Aston Martin DB6 Volante, a gift from the late queen on his 21st birthday – not a bad gift - which could be worth at least £2m at auction.
The new king was also given a 1987 V8 Vantage Volante by the emir of Bahrain on a state visit which includes a leather-trimmed sugar-lump jar for Charles's polo ponies in its glove box.
In December 1995, Charles sold the car at Sotheby's for £110,000 and donated the funds to his own charity, the Prince's Trust.
If you liked this article check out a piece we ran on the Queen's cars here.
