Princess Diana’s Armored 1987 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur Sold For 16.2 Million Naira

The Royal Palace has finally decided to sell the 1987 Rolls Royce Silver of which late Princess Diana official car.

The Silver Spur was ordered by the U.K. Foreign Office for exclusive use at its Embassy in Washington, D.C. While it is impressive on its own, the car’s real claim to fame is its association with the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Used by the princess on her official 1990 visit to the United States, the car was featured in numerous photographs including her appearance at the Royal Gala Evening to benefit the London City Ballet in Washington, D.C., and a visit to Grandma’s House, a Washington, D.C., home for HIV-positive children, on October 4 and 5 respectively. Still married to Prince Charles at the time, she appeared in her then official royal capacity as Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales.

A long-wheelbase variant of the Silver Spirit, this Silver Spur was armored by coachbuilder specialist MacNeillie & Son of Walsall, England, before being shipped to the United States. Reinforcements include carbon-steel and Kevlar plates, extra door and hinge reinforcement, and polycarbonate windows in place of the original glass units. (The tinting on the rear windows appears to be crumbling and will need to be removed in the future.) The car also rather curiously includes a sunroof, presumably to facilitate the brandishing of a Walther PPK by a member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service should disorder arise.

Currently showing 61,000 miles, the car was ordered with Motorola car phones—one in the front passenger-side left armrest and the other in the rear center armrest—cutting-edge stuff for 1987. One of the neatest features is the two-way intercom system with a handheld microphone located in the glovebox that can broadcast outside the vehicle via a speaker mounted to the underbody.