Our love for caravans is very much linked to the romantic notion of caravanning from past times. Retro and vintage vans provide much delight and are things of beauty representing an idealistic and, probably unachievable, free and nomadic lifestyle.
Visiting Beaulieu, the National Motor Museum of England, introduced us to The Royal Caravan – a perfectly formed miniature caravan belonging to the British Royal Family.
According to The Royal Caravan fact sheet, the caravan was a gift to the young Prince Charles and Princess Anne in 1955 from The Caravan Club of which Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, is the patron. It was later restored in 1982 and again 2007 and has been on temporary loan to Beaulieu since the late 2000s.
The Royal Caravan is a perfect miniature replica of a Rollalong Caravan. It’s 2.72 metres in length, 1.35 metres wide, 1.8 metres high and weighs around 500kg. With its own supply of water, gas and electricity it is fully functional except for the hot plate. The caravan is fully roadworthy and, when a tow hitch was added, the Duke of Edinburgh was known to tow the young Prince Charles and Princess Anne around the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
We have no idea if the British Royal Family ever ventured out in a caravan outside of the grounds of any of their estates but it’s lovely to think they might have.
The Little Box on Wheels 