THE old Range Rover parked in Peter Gill's drive has
surged in value since he discovered its first careful lady
owner was Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
A yellowing piece of paper stuffed in the back of the
driver's seat shows that Rover leased the E-registered
vehicle to Clarence House in July 1988. Certain
adaptations in the back - grab rails to help an elderly
person to clamber in and out, the telephone with security
button, the dog grille - suggest that the Range Rover may
have carried a royal passenger across the Scottish moors.
The list price of a 12-year-old Range Rover with 100,000
miles on the clock is £5,000, but Mr Gill, a meat salesman
from Crawley, West Sussex, has been offered £7,500 for
it. It seems he is the fourth owner since the Queen
Mother, as the leasing document was not found until Mr
Gill bought it.
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TV millions expected to see Queen Mother birthday pageant(Yahoo: Ananova)
Millions of viewers are expected to tune in this week for an eye-level TV view of the Queen Mother's
100th birthday pageant.
ITV has been finalising plans for a state-of-the-art broadcast of the central London event, which will
see the parade filmed by a mixture of fixed, roaming and miniature hi-tech cameras.
The Wednesday evening pageant, to be hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald, will be transmitted from a specially-designed studio
overlooking Horse Guards Parade.
Preparations for the one-off celebration have been surrounded by controversy since the BBC announced in May it did not wish
to broadcast it.
Corporation bosses came under fire from MPs for their "monstrous" snub, but defended the decision by saying they were
spending £1 million on tribute programmes surrounding the Queen Mother's centenary.
Among those taking part in next week's event, which comes three weeks before the Queen Mother's actual birthday, will be
former Forces sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn, leading a procession of 700 children.
There will be a march past by The Household Cavalry and the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and a fly past by Battle of
Britain aircraft.
The event will be headed by Major General Evelyn Webb-Carter, General Officer Commanding the Army's London district.
Some of the more unusual parade participants will include Aberdeen Angus bulls, camels, race horses, corgis, dachshunds and
chickens.
Joining Sir Trevor in the studio for the live show, produced by ITN, will be constitutional historian and royal biographer Robert
Lacey and actress Nanette Newman, a personal friend of the Queen Mother.