In the meantime, however, Daimler did not disappear from the scene. Although not for Elizabeth II, the company supplied cars to her mother, the Queen Mother, who was obviously accustomed to sitting in a Daimler alongside her husband George VI. In October 1955, she took delivery of a Daimler DK400 with a body still manufactured by Hooper. It was so successful that the brand's next model, the DR450, never was taken into consideration by the Queen Mother.

In 1960 Daimler was bought by Jaguar, but this did not prevent the company from continuing to develop models suitable for kings and heads of state. This led to the creation of the DS420, which was developed on the technical basis of the Jaguar Mark X and unveiled in 1968. The Queen Mother of England had already used several of these models, with the first one, featuring a body by Vanden Plas, entering service in 1970 (chassis number: 1M1559, body number: 4M1496).

For Daimler to regain access to the royal fleet, an earth-shattering event had to take place. This occasion was the wedding of Prince Charles, then Prince of Wales, and Princess Diana of Wales in 1981. For their official trips, they used a Vanden Plas Princess manufactured in 1969 but not put into service until 1972, which was based on the technical design of an Austin Sheerline. What is special about this car is that it was one of the last examples to be put directly from the factory to the museum. Three years later, it was taken from there to enter royal service. Princess Anne drove it most often, followed later by Charles and Diana. After their wedding, however, their royal duties and travels increased, for which the ten-year-old Princess was less and less suitable. Therefore, in 1984, another Daimler was added to the royal fleet, this time a DS420, a Daimler Limousine, which is the subject of our article. But not exactly this one!

The DS420 with the registration number D500GUW - the English like to identify their vehicles by their registration numbers - once again was given to the Queen on a special occasion. 1987 was an important year, as it marked the 35th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne. Both royal suppliers, Rolls Royce and Daimler, pulled out all the stops for this grand event. The former wanted to surprise the Queen with a new Phantom VI, the latter with a model-updated DS420. However, the redesign did not involve any fundamental changes: the plastic-coated chrome-plated metal bumper was replaced by a plastic bumper with a chrome overlay, and the height of the radiator grille was reduced, which, together with the modification of the other connecting elements, modernised the appearance of the model.

Photo 1: Many people would probably be delighted if they could sit in such armchairs at their workplace. This is only the driver's seat, with blue fabric upholstery.
Photo 2: The handbrake and gear lever are also chrome-plated. There is no plastic here. The wood is real wood, and what shines metallically is actually metal. The speakers are still the original ones from the Pioneer brand. The small silver-coloured metal levers are used to adjust the exterior mirrors.

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