7:39 am, April 11, 2021
The Duke of Edinburgh will be transported to his funeral in a Land Rover he helped to design, and believed to have been sold by a specialist dealership in Harlow.
The vehicle is believed to be a modified Defender 130 Gun Bus, which was commissioned in 2005.
According to PA News, this would match a totally rebuilt Land Rover delivered by Foley Specialist Vehicles in 2016.
The purpose-built Land Rover was specially modified to carry a coffin – in a project that the duke helped with many years ago.
The car dealer said it delivered a totally rebuilt Gun Bus to Philip for use on his estates.
It was made to his specifications in traditional deep bronze green, and built onto a galvanised chassis and hand-built rear body.
The Land Rover will process slowly through the grounds of Windsor Castle ahead of the duke’s funeral on Saturday at St George’s Chapel.
We have just delivered a totally rebuilt 130 Defender Gun Bus to the Duke of Edinburgh for use on one of the Estates….
Posted by Foley Specialist Vehicles Ltd on Monday, 28 November 2016
A bearer party from the Grenadier Guards will place the coffin on the Land Rover at the state entrance of the castle, before the vehicle begins the eight-minute journey – at walking pace – to the west steps of the chapel.
It will be flanked by pall bearers reflecting the duke’s special relationships with the military – the Royal Marines, Regiments, Corps and Air Stations.
Immediately behind the Land Rover, the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family, likely to be the duke’s other children and some of his grandchildren, will proceed on foot.
The Land Rover’s poignant role in the funeral proceedings always formed part of Operation Forth Bridge – the codename given to the plans following Philip’s death.
A Palace spokesman said: ‘The duke had a great interest in design so that is where the involvement of the Land Rover comes from.
‘The Land Rover was very much part of the original plans as approved by the duke.’
A senior Palace official added: ‘The Duke of Edinburgh had a hand many years ago in the design of these vehicles.’
The official added that there were two Land Rovers for ‘belt and braces’.
