'I offered to drive the Queen... Certainly not! she said': Sir Jackie Stewart's Royal friendship

On the face of it, a Queen with little interest in motor racing and a three-time Formula 1 world champion wouldn’t seem to have much in common.

But among the family and friends at this afternoon’s Windsor committal service, which follows the state funeral of Elizabeth II, will be Sir Jackie Stewart whose friendship with the late monarch goes back 50 years.

Speaking at the Goodwood Revival, ahead of today’s ceremony, Sir Jackie recalled how the Queen would never let him drive, her visits to his home with Prince Philip, and the support she offered in recent years as he launched the Race Against Dementia charity.

“The Queen drove wonderfully well — smooth on the gears and brakes”

He also explains that his best-known achievements were rarely a matter for discussion.

“I did talk to her about [motor racing],” Sir Jackie recalled. “‘Too noisy’ she said.”

Instead, the two bonded over the sport of shooting and Sir Jackie, who came close to qualifying for the British shooting team at the 1960 Olympics, joined Royal parties at Sandringham and Balmoral.

Even the idea of being driven by a grand prix great held little appeal for Her Majesty.

“There was one occasion when when we were at Sandringham and I had just won the world championship,” says Sir Jackie. “We were going out to a barbecue — the Queen loved barbecues — and we were all having to go in Range Rovers.

“The Queen came along and I said, ‘Would you like me to drive Ma’am?’ ‘Certainly not’, she said. ‘You can navigate’. So I sat in the passenger seat.”

“She drove wonderfully well,” continues the man who mastered the Nordschleife. “The indicator was on at the right time and there was smooth gear shifting smooth brake application and coming off the brakes, I mean, she was a very good driver. Of course, she had driven in the army.”

“Princess Anne was really good in the Tyrrell”

Keen to avoid accusations of courting publicity, Sir Jackie says that he sought Palace approval before accepting interview requests following the Queen’s death.

Sir Jackie’s first introduction to the Royal circle was in 1971, the year of his second world championship with Tyrrell. It was also the year that Princess Anne won the European Eventing Championship. “My relationship with the Queen was created by the Princess Royal,” he says.

“She was [Daily Express] sportswoman of the year when I was sportsman of the year. We sat together at, I think, nine events. She knew I did a bit of shooting and we talked about it several times where we were sitting side by side.

“At one of the later [events] I said, ‘You know, have you ever been to a race track?’ She said, ‘No, no’. I said, ‘Well, why don’t you come sometime?’ So she was very keen to do that.”

Princess Anne impressed when she swapped the saddle for the seat of his title-winning Tyrrell, Sir Jackie reveals. “We went to Silverstone and I got her to drive a whole lot of different racing cars. She was very good. I mean, really good. And good in the Tyrrell as well.”

He says that they had plenty in common as high-level sports stars and he began to receive invitations to shoots on the Royal Estates. Then one day, when Princess Anne was called on to deputise for the Queen at an event, the monarch took her place and hosted the shoot.

“That was when we first met,” says Sir Jackie. The Queen knew that I knew that I knew Princess Anne very well and from that point on, from time to time, I’d be invited to shoot at Sandringham or Balmoral or Windsor. Sometimes with Her Majesty, sometimes without. That goes on on for many years.

“The Queen really liked country folk, I think”