Prince Phillip helped design the hearse that will carry him to his grave.

[JohnnyRingo]

He spent 17 years with Britain's mainstay automaker Land Rover, designing the perfect hearse in a custom color (colour) that reflects his WWII military experience.

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Prince Philip Spent 16 Years Toying Over The Custom Land Rover Defender That Will Carry His Casket

It would seem that once a person hits just the right mix of nationalism, royalty, wealth and age, they do extremely weird stuff like toy over the customized Land Rover Defender hearse that will one day carry their vessel to its final resting place, which is what Prince Philip apparently did.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth territories, Queen Elizabeth II, died at the age of 99 on April 9. But not before exercising his taste for ceremonial flair one last time.

Prince Philip was known for royal ceremony as he’s taken credit for planning his wife’s coronation as Queen of England and pushing for it be televised, bringing in a documentary crew to show life behind the palace walls to the public for the first time, and for encouraging his son, Prince Charles, to infamously marry the late Lady Diana Spencer, among other “feats.”

Custom Land Rover Hearse

It seems the late Prince had one last pet project up his sleeve for his family and the public, and that’s a Land Rover Defender hearse he personally customized for his public funeral procession on Saturday, April 17.

*snip*

The Duke reportedly commissioned the custom Defender back in 2003, taking a personal part in the modifications by working directly with automaker Land Rover which produced the hearse at the company’s factory in Solihull, England. In the 16 years of work on the hearse project, it’s been through both Ford’s and Tata Motors’ ownership of Jaguar Land Rover over the years.

The base Defender for the hearse is a TD5 130 model, a chassis cab frame trim of the Defender lineup modified to have just a single cab. The Duke is credited for designing the rear open-top coffin display area, and personally designed the custom rubber and metal stoppers installed to prevent his coffin from moving during his journey through London.

Continued here via Jalopnik:
https://jalopnik.com/prince-philip-spent-16-years-toying-over-the-custom-lan-1846702446

I would probably get more DU responses with a different title:
"Prince Phillip gives middle finger to the environment all the way to his grave"
hahaha

[Ilsa]

1. I thought it was perfect for him, so much that

I called my hubby over to take a look at it. Hubby is a Ford man, though.

[JohnnyRingo]

3. it was partly built under Ford ownership.

Don't think that the Blue Oval didn't take some proprietary design cues from the company either. There's a little Ford somewhere on this truck if one looks closely. Or more likely, the other way around.

[Ilsa]

4. Kewl. Thanks. nt

[dalton99a]

2. Could use some color

[Ilsa]

5. Someone named "Bodhi" might opt for it. :) nt

[Aristus]

8. Phillip's favorite color was white.

And how...

[Srkdqltr]

6. Seriously? This is a big deal that took 17 years? Seriously?

[dalton99a]

7. They had to perform crash tests to ensure passenger safety

Evidently the passenger has arrived safely in one piece and not ejected

[Aristus]

9. If a hearse crashes, I don't think the safety of the passenger is of paramount concern...

[JohnnyRingo]

10. hahaha

Apparently some can't relate to a project that one works on sporadically over time. I have several. My Sportster has been an ongoing hobby since I last rode it in 1984.

Then again, the Duke likely has more time on his hands than most.

[TxGuitar]

11. Especially now!

He has even less to do than he did when he was alive.

[dalton99a]

12. +1. Not like he was calling them every day: "James, is my hearse ready yet??"

"Let me talk to your bloody manager"