# Queen Elizabeth's drivers license **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722 "2006-11-25T04:58:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/41 "2006-11-25T22:55:03Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Did she ask to see the old bag’s driver’s licence? [/QUOTE] Prince Philip was there, but she didn’t speak to him. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/42 "2006-11-25T23:15:18Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] I’ve heard a tale that the King of Thailand was confronted by some young clerk who didn’t believe who he was, and demanded ID. The King didn’t have any ID, so he produced a coin, and showed him the “heads (obverse)” side with a “Will THAT do?” I hope it’s true. [/QUOTE] It has an urban legend ring to it. I’ve heard the same tale told about various Scandinavian monarchs. > [@Alive at Both Ends](#): > > Are you saying that if I buy land in England, it doesn’t really belong to me but to the Queen? I think you’ll have to back that up with a cite. Perhaps a reference to the fact that even an estate in fee simple (a freehold estate) is not equal to absolute title to the land, which remains with the Crown in the UK (I think). ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/43 "2006-11-25T23:58:08Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] …They immediate members of the royal family (queen, princes, princesses) do NOT have a last name, or surname. They have a family name, that is, their family is collectively known as Windsor. When male members of the family end up in need of a surname, they take the name Mountbatten-Windsor. But the Queen does not have, need, or use a last name… [/QUOTE] Princess Anne has “Lawrence” as a surname by virtue of her marriage. When she was in court over her dogs the case was called “R v. Lawrence” (the R is Queen Elizabeth II). Anne also used “Windsor” as her surname in school, but when she used “Mountbatten-Windsor” on her banns in honour of her father. Technically only male-line descendants of Elizabeth II who _aren’t_ titled Prince/ss have “Mountbatten-Windsor” as a surname, but all the Queen’s children and male-line grandchildren have used it whenever they need a surname. Even weirder the Princess Elizabeth took Phillip’s made-up surname, Mountbatten, on her marriage and Charles and Anne were born with it. After she became Queen there was some debate over what the Royal House’s name was. Phillip’s uncle Lord Mountbatten boasted that the “House of Mountbatten” was on the throne and t upset the Queen Mother who asked Winston Churchill to advise the Queen to issue a decree confirming Windsor as the Royal name and changing her and her childrens’ names. Supposedly Phillip went ballistic when he found out. In '61 the Queen decreed that her desendants would bear “Mountbatten-Windsor” in honour of Phillip. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/44 "2006-11-26T01:01:15Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] She is not the state, she is the head of state. Licences are issued by the DVLA (originally, they were issued locally, by county councils). The DVLA’s role is set out by parliament. [/QUOTE] Parliament is nothing more than the Queen’s advisors. Parliament is NOT the state. The fact that the Queen may have had a piece of paper issued when she was princess that had the potential to be valid until 1996, had that been needed, doesn’t deal with the fact that the Queen herself qua monarch would not need a license. Again, assume that Princess Elizabeth had never been lisenced: do you REALLY think the Queen of England would have to go to the local licensing agency and apply for one??? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/45 "2006-11-26T01:05:31Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] … do you REALLY think the Queen of England would have to go to the local licensing agency and apply for one??? :smack: [/QUOTE] That’s the question, isn’t it? Not even the UK citizens can answer it definitively. (And I suppose now for not calling her they’ll use the excuse that she’s about to watch the USC-Notre Dame game.) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/46 "2006-11-26T01:09:49Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Parliament is nothing more than the Queen’s advisors. [/quote] Oh really? > [@](#): > > Parliament is NOT the state. I didn’t say it was. > [@](#): > > Again, assume that Princess Elizabeth had never been lisenced: do you REALLY think the Queen of England would have to go to the local licensing agency and apply for one??? :smack: Why the ‘smack’? No other British monarch has reigned over a country where car ownership is commonplace and where most people are licensed to drive. If and when (probably if) it ends up becoming an issue in any court, we might find out what the result is. Until then, avoid fields around Balmoral. (And double-smack for not noticing that the ‘local licensing agency’ is a historical artifact, and for not googling ‘dvla’ to figure that out) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/47 "2006-11-26T01:20:07Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Parliament is nothing more than the Queen’s advisors. Parliament is NOT the state. [/QUOTE] What fools we’ve been, voting in all those parliamentary elections, when it turns out that they were nothing more than advisors to the queen. I honestly believed that we were voting for a government. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/48 "2006-11-26T02:24:06Z")
Well, something needs to be done about this so I’ve drafted a letter as per the following post. It’s only a first draft and I might change some of the wording. I intend to post the letter on Monday and send it via the Royal Mail. If anyone has anything to add please let me know within the next 24 hours. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/49 "2006-11-26T02:25:10Z")
Your Majesty The Queen, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA. Dear Your Majesty, I am the Royal Correspondent for a message board based in Chicago, IL, in the United States of America. You remember America, don’t you? The place used to belong to us but unfortunately your ancestor Farmer George III, together with that idiot Lord North, lost it following a regrettable incident with some wet tea. Many people are wishing to know about your driving arrangements. I know that you were given a driving licence in 1945 when you were a mere slip of a girl but your instructor kept it for himself. Bastard. Anyway, I require further information from you, as follows: (1) Your licence expired in 1996. Did you receive form D46P from the DVLA, get a lackey to fill it in, sign it and get it renewed? (2) Does the reigning monarch, in this case your good self, need a driving licence in order to drive lawfully on the public highway? (3) Have you ever driven on the public highway? If so, what would happen if the police caught you overtaking on a blind bend? (4) Why has Princess Anne got so many speeding tickets? (5) How are the kids? I look forward to your early reply. Your loyal subject, C. Guevara, Esq. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/50 "2006-11-26T02:30:46Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] 1A 1AA. [/QUOTE] How does she rate such a postal code? I’d drop the “Farmer”. Can you really “require” information from the Queen? I look forward to signing the internet petition for your release from the Tower. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/51 "2006-11-26T03:13:16Z")
Well, I got the postcode from the Royal Website. Presumably the Post Office allocated it to her. It _is_ only a first draft and therefore subject to possible changes. Do you think I should lose the crack about America altogether? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/52 "2006-11-26T03:37:24Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Well, I got the postcode from the Royal Website. Presumably the Post Office allocated it to her. It _is_ only a first draft and therefore subject to possible changes. Do you think I should lose the crack about America altogether? [/QUOTE] No, it’s excellent. The only improvement I could think of is maybe a bit of an Ali G writing style when corresponding wiv da Queen. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/53 "2006-11-26T04:17:32Z")
Does anyone know if she actually drives? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/54 "2006-11-26T05:05:45Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Does anyone know if she actually drives? [/QUOTE] The then Princess Elizabeth served as a motor mechanic in a reserve military outfit during WW2 so she probably was taught to drive then. William and Harry definitely have licences as not too long ago the British tabloid press was carrying stories about them passing their drivers tests. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/55 "2006-11-26T05:06:10Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Does anyone know if she actually drives? [/QUOTE] As others have noted, HM certainly drives. Various documentaries have shown her driving around one or other of her estates. I doubt that she does a lot of driving on public roads. ---
**Author:** ![ctaylor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@ctaylor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctaylor)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/56 "2006-11-26T06:13:48Z")
What about Harry and William and Prince Charles, what does it say on their ‘driving license’? ---
**Author:** ![ctaylor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@ctaylor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctaylor)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/57 "2006-11-26T06:17:54Z")
[QUOTE=ctaylor] What about Harry and William and Prince Charles, what does it say on their ‘driving license’? [/QUOTE] Their name I mean, how is it printed on the official government document… ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/58 "2006-11-26T06:35:07Z")
[QUOTE=Shrinking Violet] Now see, you’re _just_ a little too late … my daughter met and spoke to her just last Friday (true! :)). [/QUOTE] **Shrinking Violet** , please give us the dish on the encounter, omitting no detail, however slight. When you engage in World Class Name Dropping, you owe it to us all to follow through. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/59 "2006-11-26T06:39:33Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] How does she rate such a postal code? [/quote] Same way Santa Claus got H0H 0H0 in Canada. Because she could. 🙂 > [@Frank](#): > > I look forward to signing the internet petition for your release from the Tower. “Dear Your Majesty”?? Next time I go over there, I will visit the Tower, look through the bars, feed **Chez Guevara** crusts of stale bread, and maybe poke him or her with a stick. [Emily Post 1922](http://www.bartleby.com/95/27.html) states, > [@](#): > > Should an American have occasion to write to Royalty he would begin: “Madam” (or Sir), and end: “I have the honor to remain, madam (or Sir), your most obedient.” (“Your most obedient servant” is a signature reserved usually for our own President—or Vice-President.) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722/60 "2006-11-26T06:41:53Z")
The queen is a mere wannabe. I have a shorter postal address. Within the country, you can just put: _My real name SWLF_ and I’ll get it. Add the word “Australia”, and I’ll get it from anywhere on the planet. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeths-drivers-license/381722.md?page=4)