The death of Queen Elizabeth II raised many of her life stories and the secrets of her personal meetings with world leaders and kings following she spent 7 decades at the top of the British crown.
The departure of the 96-year-old queen brought back a unique story with the late Saudi King, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, during a previous meeting that brought them together in Scotland.
The story is summed up in a tour that the late Queen made herself when she drove her “Land Rover” with her Saudi guest in the heights of Aberdeenshire.
In September 1998 when he was crown prince in Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdullah was invited to Balmoral Palace, Scotland, to have lunch with the Queen, according to the former British ambassador to Riyadh, Sherard Cooper Coles.
According to the newspaper,The TimesOf his memoirs, Coles says: “After lunch, the Queen asked her guest if he would like a tour of the province. Encouraged by his foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, a hesitant Abdullah agreed at first.
Coles continues, “Royal Land Rovers were placed in front of the castle. As instructed, the (Saudi) Crown Prince climbed into the front seat of the Land Rover with his interpreter in the back.”
Coles noted that the late Saudi monarch was surprised to find that Queen Elizabeth climbed into the driver’s seat and drove off.
He said that King Abdullah was not accustomed to a woman driving a car in a country that prohibits women from driving.
Elizabeth II did not have a driver’s license. It does not require her to obtain a license as a queen.
In contrast, Saudi Arabia allowed women to drive in 2018, one year following Prince Mohammed bin Salman ascended to the throne.
Coles adds: “His nervousness only increased when the Queen, a wartime army chauffeur, accelerated the car along the narrow roads of Scotland, talking all the time.”
And he added, “Through his interpreter, the Crown Prince appealed to the Queen to slow down and focus on the path (by looking) forward.”
King Abdul died in January 2015 at the age of 91, and was succeeded by the current monarch, Salman bin Abdulaziz, less than ten years following his accession to the throne.
However, King Abdullah is considered the de facto ruler of the kingdom following former King Fahd bin Abdulaziz suffered a stroke since 1995.
In 2003 when Coles met Abdullah, who assumed the throne in August of 2006 following being appointed ambassador to Riyadh, the former Saudi king asked regarding the health of the British Queen and the rest of the royal family.
“I replied that I had compliments from the Queen, who had shared fond memories of her driving through the hills,” Coles says.
He recalls, “Abdullah smiled and said in Arabic, ‘Yes, I was a little nervous. I told your queen not to look at me, but to look at the road.'” In reference to this, his foreign minister interjected by saying, “I think, Ambassador, that Your Majesty the Queen.” It drives a state ship more steadily than a Land Rover.”
