Sigh, my Jag isn't just like the Queen's after all

So, after telling folks for the last few months that my ridiculous 1999 Jaguar XJ8 Vanden Plas Supercharged saloon was pretty much identical to the ones used by the royal family, I came across this YouTube video that pointed out a few more differences between mine and the Queen's ride than I expected. Mind you, her '98 model was apparently much closer to mine, and I believe the rest of the royals had to make do with ones pretty much identical to mine.

But by 2001 Queen Elizabeth II had come up with several special requests that Jaguar honored. Here's a pretty good tour of her rig. Check it out:

Her Majesty the Queen's 2001 Jaguar Daimler Majestic V8 LWB


To be fair, I never included the right-hand drive (UK) vs. left-hand drive (US) difference, or the branding difference between Jaguar's ultra-luxury packages Daimler (UK) and Vanden Plas (US). But that video points out several other important differences between her car and mine.

1) The Queen gets a maroon pinstripe on the side, designating it as the official royal ride.

2) The Queen has a built-in radio in case she needs to talk to the Prime Minister directly. I must struggle along like a mere commoner and ring him up on my iPhone. I rather suspect she'll get by his switchboard a bit quicker than I will.

3) The Queen has extra window switches in the back seat, so as to be able to control all the windows. We are not amused when the wind blows directly upon us.

4) Handbag niche. We can only hope for Her Royal Highness's sake that it's better designed than the cup holder on the front side of that center console. Criminy, that's an awful cup holder in an unbelievably expensive car.

5) Strobe and convoy lights. Okay, I'll cede this one to Her Majesty for now.

6) Corgi hair instead of beagle hair. Frankly, I think Katie the Beagle and I have the advantage here.