The Queen and Duke’s Rolls-Royce was swept through the streets of Wolverhampton during their Silver Jubilee tour of the West Midlands in 1977. The car broke down in Walsall and mechanics Chris Tate and Fred Budd were called in to fix it
“I hope it doesn’t break,” mumbled their service manager Terry Stanley as he looked at the royal couple’s gleaming Rolls-Royce.
A few hours later the time had come. And Fred and Chris eventually had to fix it.
The couple were mechanics at the PJ Evans Rolls-Royce garage in Sedgley, Dudley when the royal couple visited the West Midlands during the July 1977 Silver Jubilee celebrations.
It was a bright, sunny morning and the trio took a short break from work to watch the cavalry go by on Wolverhampton.
And when Mr. Stanley got a call at lunchtime that the car had indeed broken down, he assumed it was a joke.
“Because he said the queen’s car broke down, he thought when he answered the call it was a joke,” says Chris, who was unemployed at the time.
Chris Tate helped repair the royal limousine on a visit to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in 1977
Fred, who was having a fish and chip lunch, didn’t believe it either.
“I was sitting in the canteen eating my chips when the service man came in and said, ‘Get your tools together, Fred, the queen’s car is broken,” he recalls.
“I panicked a bit, then thought it was a settlement and sat down again, continuing to eat my chips.”
He was quickly put back in order.
While the Rolls-Royce Phantom Landaulette had behaved perfectly during the visit to Wolverhampton, it collapsed when the tour reached Walsall.
“Terry and Fred went to Walsall Town Hall where the car broke down and they found the fuel pump was gone. They managed to fix it so it could be driven back to the garage, but it had to be saved will be overnight, “says Chris.
Fred Budd helped repair the royal limousine on a visit to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in 1977
“They loaned her a brand new black Silver Shadow II to complete the trip, and I and Fred fixed the car the next day.
“Terry had to go to the Crewe factory to get a new fuel pump.”
Chris, who was only 21 at the time, says it was a daunting experience.
“I was both very shocked and nervous,” says Chris. “Not just because of whose car it was, but because we were surrounded by cops the entire time we were working on it, we couldn’t do anything alone.”
The Queen’s equerry wrote a letter to Mr. Stanley thanking them.
Chris, who has returned to working part-time with Fred after his partial retirement last year, says he was always a great admirer of the Duke and was saddened by his death.
“I thought he was a crazy guy,” says Chris. “I thought he was one of us, he called a spade a spade, I really liked him, I’m sad that he died.”