While he is known for his reticence with the Indian media, HRH Prince Michael of Kent can be counted on to pull out a few surprises at the bi-annual Cartier Concours d’Elegance. At its fourth edition in 2015, he zipped across Delhi’s sprawling Jaipur Polo Grounds on a 1951 Royal Enfield, its distinctive thump getting car owners, restorers and other petrol-heads to stop whatever it was they were doing to cheer him on. And last month, at the prestigious car show’s fifth edition in Hyderabad, when he took an Indian princess for a spin in a rare vintage roadster at the Falaknuma Palace grounds, all camera phones went on an overdrive.
At the Concours
Prince Michael is often seen strolling by the gleaming cars on display — over 70 of them at this edition, curated once again by Manvendra Singh of Barwani. Leaning forward to peer into restored engines and original tool kits, he quizzes owners about the wheels that catch his fancy. Besides the ride with Princess Sheikha Jah in the 1929 Triumph Super 7 Roadster, Queen Elizabeth II’s dapper first cousin squeezes in a ride in a pre-war Ford Model T. Fortunately, it is right before my interview with him, and he returns beaming, “It is a terrifying car! The foot brake makes it go backwards, and the clutch accelerates.” Chuckling that it is what you expect of a car seen in a host of Laurel & Hardy films, the President of UK’s Royal Automobile Club, who helped revive the London Motor Show last year, expands on a favourite subject — the engineering ingenuity of Indian restorers. “The Cartier Concours demonstrates the enormous advancement in car restoration in India. When restorers can’t find a part, they make it and this resourcefulness was seen here in the past, too. If a Rolls-Royce broke down, a piece of wood from a tree by the road would be used as a quick fix.” Another pet subject is road safety; he has been quite vocal about cyclists back home. “I see Bentleys from the 1920s sharing space with tuk-tuks on Indian roads, and that is exactly what motoring should be about, with room for all, and consideration for both,” he says, adding, “In London, I see cyclists going through red lights and turning left or right when they should not. I believe that vulnerable road users can sometimes be their worst enemy.” This, of course, is when I enlighten him that our roads can be perilous, too.
Appetite for adventure
Prince Michael, quite a daredevil in the day, alludes to hair-raising moments during his rallies and car races in the 70s, when speed was never restricted. “It was a time before speed cameras were invented. I remember my ride in the 1957 Aston Martin DBR2 on the Mille Miglia (an endurance race organised in north Italy) in the ’80s. I have raced in vintage Bentleys in Russia. Another great memory is the White Nights Ride in 2005, a trans-Siberian motorcycle endurance trip for charity,” he says. His ‘need for speed’ has been well documented, be it with cars, planes or superboats. It is a passion that started early. In an interview with The Telegraph last year, he said he had driven more than 100 cars by the time he was 12, thanks to his long front drive — 300 yards. Were there many crashes? He only smiles. While the same article documented his first car as a Singer Gazelle and the current ones, a Bentley Flying Spur and a BMW, it also quoted him saying that he was now resigned to driving automatic to cope with London’s traffic. He shrugs, when I ask him this, and adds that he makes do at home with a Chinese electric moped.
A style icon
But if there is one area where Prince Michael, now 74, refuses to make any allowances, it is in the style department. Fashion editors insist that with his distinctive high collars, the full Windsor and his regal beard, he can rock a suit like the edgiest New Yorker. There is a nod to tradition, but his ease when it comes to mixing patterns (stripes and checks of various sizes on shirt, tie and suit, all at the same time) is unrivalled among the royals. Highlighting the superlative skills of British tailors — his first proper suit was by Davies & Son — he refers to his time at menswear fair, Pitti Uomo, 10 years ago, where he represented the Savile Row Bespoke Association. “British bespoke tailoring is highly regarded abroad. We have had it for 200 years,” he says.
Any grooming suggestions, I dare to ask — his whiskers are on trend, as seen in fashion campaigns and editorials. “Oh no, I refuse to talk about my beard!” he grins, before being whisked away.
