THE DB6, IN SEYCHELLES
BLUE, AT HIGHGROVE.
HAVING OWNED THE CAR
SINCE 1970, THE PRINCE
HAD IT CONVERTED TO
RUN ON BIOFUEL IN 2008to bio-diesel. ‘I even tried to get the Royal
Train to run on old chip fat. It seemed that
other countries were way ahead of us on
alternative fuels, but we then discovered
a splendid company near here who specialise
in turning waste products into fuels.’
Gloucestershire-based Green Fuels,
which has since earned a Royal Warrant
of Appointment, informed the prince that
it could supply waste-derived bio-ethanol
produced from a combination of wine
unsuitable for human consumption, and
whey, a by-product of cheese manufacturing.
The fuel is blended as ‘E85’ by adding 15 per
cent unleaded petrol, its higher-octane levels
(105 versus the more typical 87 of unleaded
petrol) making the car more powerful.
Aston specialist RS Williams carried out
the DB6’s conversion. ‘At first, the engineers
weren’t convinced that the conversion
would work, but I insisted that it would,’
says Charles as we pass through Highgrove’s
gates and head out on to the open road.
‘When the conversion was done, they had
to admit that the car now performs better
than ever.’
Charles’ cousin David Linley (furniture
maker and honorary chairman of Christie’s)
has a joke about the prince and his car.
‘How does Prince Charles drive his Aston
Martin? Caerphilly.’ It’s not a bad Prince
of Wales gag, but in truth, as Wallpaper*
discovers, HRH is quite a sporty motorist.
As if to demonstrate the Aston’s eco grunt,
he accelerates to a corner (we’re on privateland now), deftly double declutches and
executes a modest wheel spin on the exit.
He allows himself a satisfied grin. ‘When
I first bought the car it seemed incredibly
fast and powerful so I asked [former Formula
One world champion] Graham Hill to
teach me how to drive it. He took me to the
Thruxton circuit and showed how it could
hold the road at speed. Lovely man. He gave
me so much confidence.’
Now gently cruising around the wooded
Gloucestershire lanes in summer sunshine,
HRH tells of a personal love affair with the
great British marque that spans five decades
and several bespoke iterations. A member
of the Aston Martin Owners Club since 1973,
between 1987 and 1995 Charles also owned
a 5.3 litre V8 Vantage Volante, gifted to him
by the Emir of Bahrain. It included an in-
built jar to hold sugar cubes for polo ponies.
Aston Martin subsequently built more than
20 Vantage Volantes to the ‘Prince of Wales
Specification’ for other customers. Charles’
third Aston, a Virage Volante, was leased
from 1994 to 2007. The marque has held
a Royal Warrant since 1982.
Charles’ first ever car was actually
an MGC GT, which he drove for a couple of
years from January 1968. ‘Lovely car. I had
it when I was up at Cambridge.’ (The prince
studied at Trinity College.) Fitted with wire
wheels, a heated rear window, an electric
aerial and – a novelty at the time – a car
phone, the MGC went to the Royal Mews
in Windsor in 1970 and later to the »P rince Charles likes his outfits and
interests to complement one another. Archive
images from the 1960s onwards show him
wearing, variously, a selection of immaculate
safari suits in Kenya, yee-ha-ish western shirts
and cowboy boots at a Native American
reservation, and rugged equestrian duds for
a game of polo. Today, His Royal Highness
will be driving Wallpaper* in his beloved
Aston Martin around the country lanes of
Highgrove, Gloucestershire, and, again, he is
dressed accordingly, in a cream linen suit.
Charles has owned the double-breasted
ensemble, by Anderson & Sheppard of
Savile Row, for decades, and it has suffered
inevitable deterioration. ‘But I hate waste. So
I got them to repair it,’ he says, pointing to his
tailor’s intricate work: tone-on-tone ribbons
on the foxed lapels, and barely perceptible
reinforcing at the shoulders. Fundamentally,
explains the prince, the suit – an old, still
stylish fabrication, but running on sartorial
vapours – matches his gorgeous Aston Martin
DB6, which runs not on petrol or diesel but
on cheese by-product and old wine.
Charles bought the car back in 1970, but
after decades of ownership he felt morally
and environmentally obliged to modernise it.
If he was going to keep it on the road it would
have to be re-engineered for alternative fuel.
No longer a gas-guzzling luxury, it would be
a sustainable green machine in line with his
myriad eco-friendly endeavours.
‘It was difficult,’ admits Charles. For years,
he had been trying to convert his various cars
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Intelligence