Royal Mystery and Daimler line-up (Upd IV: 3 Mercedes and more on King Edward)

I have done a little more research. The king bought three Mercedes in succession, and also a Renault Landaulet. On 2nd June 1906- three months before the above excursion to the North of England and Scotland- the Crown Equery, Major General Ewart, wrote to Ernst Eidlitz of Mercedes. Evidently the Kings then new Mercedes car had been delivered with the wrong coachwork- as a limousine instead of a Landaulet. 'We have told his majesty that the car will be altered by messrs Hooper & company within one month'. Alterations were to include a new rear seat- the one supplied being uncomfortable- and a new front window, since his Majesty found the one supplied too heavy to lift. 'We shall look to you (Mercedes) to bear the expense of the same'. Evidently Mercedes had wanted 3 months to do the work, but Ewart commented that 'it would be useless to him then, for the summer would be ended'. So this is almost certainly the landaulet in question, as altered by Hoopers. However Mercedes were not alone in incuring the Kings displeasure- there were problems with his latest Daimler (a 35hp model) and with the Renault also. Stamper, the kings chauffeur, sent in a long list of problems with the Daimler, everything from steering backlash to inadequate door locks. The summer vacation was a private afair, hence the use of cars other than the 'official' Daimlers. With motor cars in those early days there was a general and rather fatalistic acceptance that things would go wrong, and the problems did not deter the king from buying other cars of these types.

If the date on the photograph is correct, then this picture was taken as the King journeyed from Tulchan Lodge (one of his favourite hunting spots) to Balmoral. The King had been staying at Tulchan with Mr and Mrs Arthur Sassoon and was accompanied on the journey by his equerries Colonel The Hon HC Legge and Colonel Sir Arthur Davidson.

http://www.tulchan.com/about-tulchan/

He had travelled north on the Royal Train, staying for a week with Lord and Lady Savile at Rufford Abbey in Yorkshire, before arriving at Tulchan on September 17th, where he spent most of the week shooting.

The Court Circular specifically mentions that he travelled "by motor-car" from Tulchan to Balmoral. Dufftown is not on the most direct route from Tulchan to Balmoral, but I doubt that would even have been metalled in 1906!

By 1902 King Edward 7th had established Daimler as the supplier of 'offical' State cars, but favoured Mercedes for private use and for use abroad. After 1908 Daimler used sleeve valve engines and these were not considered entirely practical for use outside the UK. The King made frequent visits to Baden Baden in Germany to 'take the waters' and there he developed a liking for Mercedes cars which, though rather less refined than the Daimlers, had a considerably higher performance and were relatively easy to maintain. It will be noticed that this Mercedes carries no registration plate, and so it was almost certainly the Kings own property. Although Daimler remained 'the' Royal Car supplier until 1953, most monarchs followed their own taste for private transport. Edward 8th rather famously favoured Buick, though his more conservative bother, George 6th, patronized Lanchester- he even four of the big Straight 8 Daimlers built with Lanchester radiators. In the late 1930's when George 6th drove himself he often used a modest Humber car since this was less exotic and less conspiculous if the royal personage wished to travel 'in cognito'. The present Duke of Edinburgh has owned a London taxi and has used that for the same reason!

Dear Sir,

It is indeed a Mercedes most probably a 45 hp, I have seen another picture from when the King went horseracing at Goodwood in 1906/7 in the same car. The other pictures are as you say pre Great War Daimlers. I can imagine the car struggling on the hills with that weighty coachwork.

Lovely picture,

Ben Collings