There are few people more beloved than Diana, Princess of Wales. When her 2022 Ford Escort RS Turbo went under the hammer, it sparked a bidding war that eventually saw it sell for £722,500 including fees. A similar model without the royal connection would be worth around £30,000.
While the late princess sets the bar high for desirability, other royal cars are also popular with buyers. Hubbard says: “Royal provenance always increases value significantly. Last November, the Range Rover was presented to Queen Elizabeth II. sold for £132,750. A car of this age with over 109,000 miles would normally only fetch £5,000-10,000.”
This car, with registration number BN04EPU, had been auctioned for £33,000 three months before the sale, despite only circumstantial evidence that it once belonged to the late Queen. The savvy new owner then spent weeks searching for further evidence and eventually found a video showing the monarch at a racecourse in the green Vogue. This was enough to increase the value by almost £100,000.
This type of evidence is crucial, says Ed Callow of auction website Collecting Cars: “You will need to show that there is proof of ownership, such as an original or copy of the V5C registration document with name and address, signed correspondence or photographs showing how the car is used. The more of these documents you have on file, the higher the premium will be.”
