8:21 am, September 13, 2022
The sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II has brought back some incredible memories for one used car mechanic in the West Midlands, who once helped the monarch out of a sticky situation.
Fred Budd was working for Castec Motors in Wolverhampton when a royal party, including the Queen, visited the city as part of the of silver jubilee celebrations in 1977.
Then aged 26, the mechanic joined his colleagues in taking a well deserved break from work to watch her pass by in her Rolls-Royce.
As they watched, the workforce laughed and joked about the motor breaking down and needing their help.
Little did they know that was exactly what would unfold.
After returning to work, Fred received word that Her Majesty’s Phantom Landaulette had broken down and was in need of assistance.
As the garage specialised in Rolls-Royce cars, their services were called upon by the stricken royal party.
The development was something of an inconvenience for Fred, who was on his lunch break at the time!
He told ITV News Central: ‘She drove past the garage where we worked and of course, there’s always the banter that if it breaks down we can repair it and then we went back to work.
‘I was in the canteen eating my chips when the service major rushed in and they actually said “Quick Fred get your tools The Queen’s broken down!”‘
‘We got to work doing what we do and got it running.’
‘I suppose in the back of my mind I was thinking I hope I get it running with all these people here.
‘We’ve done a lot of celebrity cars over the years but she [Queen Elizabeth II] is by far the most important I would say.’
A mechanic has remembered the moments when he came to the Queen’s rescue during a visit to the Midlands in 1977.
Fred Budd, from Wolverhampton, was in his garage when a call came in to say the monarch’s Rolls-Royce had broken down.
Full story: https://t.co/qcvbkyGUo4 pic.twitter.com/gMjKCRFhLZ— BBC News Midlands (@bbcmtd) September 9, 2022
In the days following the incident, the garage’s staff returned to work as normal, content with a great anecdote for the rest of their days.
However, that was not the end of the story as a letter from the Queen herself arrived at Castec later on that week.
Adressed to service major, Bruce Stanley, the message thanking the team for their work was passed around the garage with glee.
‘That was nice, something to keep, something to prove you did it, and weren’t just winding people up, Fred added.
For more stories about some of the Queen’s automotive jaunts, take a look at our trawl through the archives.
