http://www.vox.com/2015/1/23/7877243/king-abdullah-queen-drive



The death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has brought considerable debate over whether he should be remembered as a "reformer" or the very opposite of one; whether his legacy will be that he preserved Saudi Arabia's future or limited its present.

But as this story from a former British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia makes clear, there is one thing he will never be: as much of a stone-cold badass as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles was given a private audience with the Queen when he was appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 2003. At the time, Abdullah was technically still the crown prince, though he'd been de facto ruler for several years. During their meeting, she gleefully recounted the story of Abdullah's first visit to Balmoral, her castle in Scotland. It all started innocently enough, with an offer to tour the estate:

After lunch, the Queen had asked her royal guest whether he would like a tour of the estate. Prompted by his foreign minister the urbane Prince Saud, an initially hesitant Abdullah had agreed. The royal Land Rovers were drawn up in front of the castle. As instructed, the Crown Prince climbed into the front seat of the front Land Rover, his interpreter in the seat behind.

But then, a surprising twist! The Queen herself was Abdullah's driver:

To his surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off. Women are not � yet � allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, and Abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman, let alone a queen.

And she wasn't just driving, she was DRIVING, leaving Abdullah a quivering wreck:

His nervousness only increased as the Queen, an Army driver in wartime, accelerated the Land Rover along the narrow Scottish estate roads, talking all the time. Through his interpreter, the Crown Prince implored the Queen to slow down and concentrate on the road ahead.

That's right: Queen Elizabeth basically spent an afternoon using her military-grade driving skills to haze the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

Result: Elizabeth 1, Abdullah 0.

Hat tip to Peter W. Singer.

interesting anecdote.

i've never seen much redeeming social value in royalty of any kind, type, or sort, male or female.

aaudi arabia would have been well served to ended the King/Royal Family right at the moment the king transitioned. but, it was not to be.

obama will keep on having to bow down to the royals.

For any sort of peace in that region, the biggest bad ass around needs to run things with an iron fist.

+1000

It wasn't the English that first realized the Arab is either at your feet or at your throat.

When I was young, naive and idealistic I thought such sayings were cruel and mean. Then as I aged and saw realities of life I realized that truth is truth, no matter how ugly or mean.

That's pretty funny.

And Elizabeth was still riding horses last year, well into her late 80's

I love the story! Thanks for sharing it

A friend of a friend was returning to his car after a fishing trip got washed out...As he is trudging along a river side track soaked to the skin, an old LandRover stopped and a rather posh female voice asked him if he would like a lift?

He quickly threw his rod and tackle in the back and jumped into the passenger seat..It was only as they drove off and the driver started to ask him about his fishing did he realize it was Queen Elizabeth!!

When working in Canada, I had a service manager/ tech support type, whose dad joined the Canadian Army during WW 2...at age 16 in 1942...German descent from Nova Scotia.

Norm's dad ending up making a career of the Army, and 30 plus years later, found himself being 1st Sgt in Ottawa of the Motor Pool that hauled around dignitaries as part of their function.

When anyone from the Royal Family would visit Canada, they alway flew into Montreal and then were driven by Motorcade 110 miles to Ottawa.. ( which I thought was dumb since Ottawa has an airport)...

but Norm was passing on a story of his dad's that once the Queen was visiting Canada, and as 1st Sgt his dad was the limo driver, driving the Royal Family. They have full military and police escort for the Royal Motorcase. They get to Ottawa and they drive thru town slowly, and the route is lined with people who want to get a glimpse of the Queen and wave.

As they are driving along, Queen Elizabeth makes the subtle comment to Prince Charles, that they are driving slow enough she is waving to each person on the street twice.

as the limo driver, Norm's dad makes a hand gesture to the escort vehicle in front of him, to drive faster. Once it is finally seen, the motorcade suddenly kicks up their speed faster and faster.... soon they are going thru Ottawa at 75 mph, sirens blaring, and the RCMP blocking off intersections as the Royal Motorcade passes thru.

For some reason, the hand gesture to move quicker was judged by the young captain in charge of the motorcade, as Her Majesty had to use the Royal Potty....

but as they are flying thru Ottawa the Queen made the comment to Prince Charles, that " NOW this is more like it.."

His dad was quite the character, and some of his stories of chauffeuring the royal family were pretty funny...