A bespoke Bentley once used by Queen Elizabeth II for countless royal engagements is heading to auction.
The 2016 Bentley Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase, tailored to the late monarch’s exact requirements — right down to the dimensions of her handbag — is expected to sell for as much as £400,000 at Broad Arrow next month.
Its lengthened wheelbase provided extra legroom for the Queen, and the car is believed to be the only former royal Bentley of its type to enter private ownership.
Registered in October 2016, the Mulsanne was photographed transporting Elizabeth on several occasions. Among them was the funeral of Countess Mountbatten of Burma, a first cousin of Prince Philip and a blood relative of the Queen.
The car featured a number of details commissioned specifically for Her Majesty. Its front centre armrests were replaced with a custom tray designed to accommodate her Launer London handbag.
That tray was removed after the Bentley was decommissioned, as was an inlaid Royal Coat of Arms, following a request from the Royal Mews.
The bespoke rear cabin remains intact, complete with twine and Cumbrian green leather, highly figured burr walnut veneers and thick lambswool carpets in the footwells.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Bentley Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase is now being offered at auction
The Queen enters the Bentley in June 2019 after attending former racing driver Sir Jackie Stewart’s 80th birthday celebration at London’s Royal Automobile Club
The Mulsanne is fitted with a 6.8-litre V8 engine, although it rarely exceeded 9mph during royal engagements
The original front centre armrests were replaced by a tray made to hold the Queen’s Launer London handbag; the armrests have since been reinstated
Although the Bentley seldom travelled faster than nine miles an hour during official duties, its 6.8-litre V8 engine offered considerably more power than was needed for ceremonial journeys. Elizabeth, a passionate and well-known motoring enthusiast, is likely to have appreciated that detail.
One memorable appearance came in June 2019, when the Queen was photographed leaving the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall after attending the 80th birthday party of her longtime friend, former racing driver Sir Jackie Stewart.
Freddie Woodd, a car specialist at Broad Arrow Auctions, said the sale offered a rare opportunity to acquire an important piece of automotive history.
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“Her Majesty had impeccable taste, and this magnificent long-wheelbase Bentley is testament to that,” Woodd told the Daily Mail.
The auction house said the car was used for numerous official engagements and was last seen in May 2019 during a visit to Windsor Castle, as speculation grew that Meghan had given birth to her first child, Prince Archie.
“The chance for a member of the public to own a car so intimately connected with the Royal Family is extraordinary,” Woodd said.
“Opportunities like this simply do not come along twice — this is a truly unique, and surely unrepeatable, chance to own a Bentley quite literally fit for a Queen.”
The Bentley’s extended wheelbase gave Queen Elizabeth II additional room to stretch her legs
The bespoke rear cabin combines twine and Cumbrian green leather with burr walnut veneers and deep lambswool carpeting
The Queen would in the rear passenger seat for royal engagements
Elizabeth used the car for a number of royal engagements between 2016 and 2019
Other engagements serviced by the car, registered with numberplate DG66 OKM throughout its Royal use, include British Champions Day and the Centenary of Government Communications Headquarters.
Its active royal service came to an end after a newer sister Mulsanne was delivered to the Queen in 2019, and this one returned to Bentley’s Crewe headquarters until her death in September 2022.
The Mulsanne was then acquired by a private collection in March 2024, where it has continued to be maintained by esteemed Bentley dealership Jack Barclay. To date, it has just 6,000 miles on the clock.
It went on in 2024 to win the Bentley Drivers Club Trophy at the Concours of Elegance, Hampton Court Palace, as well as the Bentley Drivers Club Summer Concours Class Award and the HR Owen Trophy.
The auction is online and running from October 5 to 14.