page_title: Daimler Company
section_title: Royal patronage
hierarchical_section_title: Daimler Company / Independent (1896–1910) / Royal patronage
caption_attribution_description: English: 6 horsepower Daimler car manufactured 1899-1900 fitted with a "mail phaeton" style body and subsequent additions including the distinctive Surrey top with a fringe. The very first Royal car it was purchased by the future King Edward VII then Prince of Wales. The Sandringham Museum states that he was undoubtedly influenced in his decision by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu but the final credit for persuading him to purchase a Daimler goes to Mr Oliver Stanton, cycling tutor to the Prince of Wales. The car was seen by the Prince in January 1900 and delivered in June 1900. It was restored by the National Motor Museum between 1977 and 1979 to mark Her Majesty The Queen's Silver Jubilee and has been returned to its original condition and full working order. The first Royal chauffeur was a Mr S Letzer, "The Prince of Wales's Mechanician"
context_page_description: The Daimler Company Limited, prior to 1910 The Daimler Motor Company Limited, was an independent British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in London by H. J. Lawson in 1896, which set up its manufacturing base in Coventry. The company bought the right to the use of the Daimler name simultaneously from Gottlieb Daimler and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft of Cannstatt, Germany. After early financial difficulty and a reorganisation of the company in 1904, the Daimler Motor Company was purchased by Birmingham Small Arms Company in 1910, which also made cars under its own name before World War II. In 1933, BSA bought the Lanchester Motor Company and made it a subsidiary of Daimler.
  Daimler was awarded a Royal Warrant to provide cars to the British monarch in 1902; it lost this privilege in the 1950s after being supplanted by Rolls-Royce. Daimler occasionally used alternative technology: the Knight engine which it further developed in the early twentieth century and used from 1909 to 1935, the worm gear final drive fitted from 1909 until after the Second World War, and their patented fluid flywheel used in conjunction with a Wilson preselector gearbox from 1930 to the mid-1950s.
context_section_description: Known as Britain's oldest car manufacturers, Daimler was first associated with royalty in 1898 when the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, was given a ride on a Daimler by John Douglas-Scott-Montagu later known as Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Scott-Montagu, as a member of parliament, also drove a Daimler into the yard of the Palace of Westminster, the first motorised vehicle to be driven there.
  In early 1900, Daimler had sold the Prince of Wales a mail phaeton. In 1902, upon buying another Daimler, King Edward VII awarded Daimler a royal warrant as suppliers of motor cars.
  In 1903, Undecimus Stratton met E. G. Jenkinson, the chairman of Daimler, when Jenkinson's Daimler was stranded by the roadside.  Upon seeing the stranded motorist, Stratton stopped his Daimler and offered assistance. Jenkinson was impressed by Stratton and by his motoring knowledge. At the time, Jenkinson was looking to replace the head of Daimler's London depot, a particularly sensitive position because of the royal cars. Taking the position, Stratton soon found himself having to select better royal chauffeurs and mechanics. He quickly became an occasional motoring companion to the King. In 1908, through Stratton's Royal connections, Daimler was awarded a "Royal Appointment as suppliers of motor cars to the Court of Spain" by King Alfonso XIII and a Royal Warrant as "Motor Car Manufacturer to the Court of Prussia" by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Stratton also sold Daimlers to the Sultan of Johor. In 1911 he spent some weekends at Sandringham tutoring the new Prince of Wales on the workings and driving of an automobile.
  In 1921 Stratton went into partnership with Daimler's commercial manager Ernest Instone. Stratton and Instone took charge of the Daimler showrooms at 27 Pall Mall, naming the business Stratton-Instone. Stratton died in July 1929 after a brief illness. His successors and Instone bought out Daimler's interest in 1930 and renamed the business Stratstone Limited. The following summer the future King Edward VIII rented Stratton's house at Sunningdale from his widow.
  Every British monarch from Edward VII to Elizabeth II has been driven in Daimler limousines. In 1950, after a persistent transmission failure on the King's car, Rolls-Royce was commissioned to provide official state cars and as Daimlers retired they were not replaced by Daimlers. The current official state car is either one of a pair which were specially made for the purpose by Bentley, unofficial chauffeured transport is by Daimler. Her Majesty's own car for personal use is a 2008 Daimler Super Eight but she is also seen to drive herself in other smaller cars.
caption: The first Royal car 6 hp 2-cylinders 1527 cc fitted with a "mail phaeton" body purchased by the Prince of Wales, 1900. Currently on display at Sandringham
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