Diana, Princess of Wales
1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo Series 1 · UK-market right-hand drive · factory-finished black
A verified photograph of this individual car is still needed.
Photo details
Joyride serves the original 750 × 1271 JPEG byte-for-byte. No crop, resize, retouching or generation; a responsive frame may crop displayed edges. The portrait remains separate from the Escort photograph gap.
A discreet black Escort with a public paper trail
- Connection
- Former owner
- When
- August 1985–May 1988
- Identity
- Individual 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo Series 1 ordered and specified for Diana · factory-finished black · documented 2022 Silverstone Auctions lot
Diana, Princess of Wales, took delivery of this Ford Escort RS Turbo Series 1 in August 1985. The auction record says the car was ordered and specified for her. Ford’s Special Vehicle Engineering department gave it a regular five-slat grille, a second rear-view mirror for the protection officer and cabling for a security radio. Black paint made the performance Escort less conspicuous than the white Series 1 cars normally associated with the model.
The car returned to Ford in May 1988 with about 6,800 miles recorded. It then passed through documented private custody, including a 1993 radio-station giveaway, before entering a specialist Ford collection in 2008. These later transfers make this a former-ownership story; Joyride does not identify or infer the present owner.
Silverstone Auctions offered the same individual car on August 27, 2022 with 24,961 miles recorded. Hagerty reports a £650,000 hammer price and £724,500 total paid including fees. Rights-managed photographs by Nicky J Sims show the exact car at the sale, but reuse is not cleared, so Joyride keeps an honest photo gap instead of substituting another black Escort or reproducing restricted auction imagery.
Where the car went next
- August 23, 1985Diana’s RS Turbo enters service
The auction history dates the car’s first registration to this day and identifies it as the last Escort ordered for Diana. Joyride omits the registration identifier itself.
- May 1988Returned to Ford
The documented car returned to Ford with about 6,800 miles recorded before entering later private custody.
- September 1993Radio-station giveaway
The auction account records the Escort as the prize in a Kiss FM promotion, one step in its post-royal custody trail.
- August 27, 2022Sold at Silverstone
Hagerty reports £650,000 on the hammer and £724,500 including fees. The buyer’s identity and present ownership are not claimed.
Sources for this story
Silverstone Auctions’ individual lot history, as quoted by contemporary reports, documents Diana’s former ownership, the car’s black factory finish, security accommodations, return to Ford and later custody. Hagerty records the 2022 sale result. Nicky J Sims’s Getty Images record identifies the exact car at the auction but is rights-managed, so no car photograph is hosted. No present owner, current custody, untouched specification, complete Escort family coverage, exact Joyride catalog link or compatible game entry is claimed.
- The Diana, Princess of Wales 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo S1Silverstone Auctions · 2022 auction lot · reviewed 2026-10-06 · external source
The individual car’s identity, Diana’s order and specification, August 1985 delivery, security accommodations, May 1988 return to Ford, later custody and recorded mileage. The current page blocks automated readback; contemporaneous reports quote this lot record.
- Princess Diana’s Ford Escort RS Turbo sells for £725,000Hagerty UK · August 27, 2022 · external source
Diana’s order and specification, black factory finish, security mirror and radio accommodation, sub-25,000-mile auction condition and August 2022 sale.
- Princess Diana: The Hagerty Power ListHagerty UK · August 30, 2022 · external source
The £650,000 hammer price and £724,500 total paid including fees.
- Princess Diana’s 1985 Ford Escort is up for saleClassicCars.com Journal · August 2, 2022 · external source
The auction lot’s quoted registration date, five-slat grille, second mirror, radio cabling, May 1988 return to Ford and later custody trail.
Reviewed
Exact-car photo leads and rights status
- Photo identity evidence
Nicky J Sims identifies the photographed black 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo Series 1 as Diana’s actual car at the Silverstone sale on August 27, 2022. Getty marks the photograph rights-managed, so Joyride does not reproduce it.
- Photo identity evidence
The auction lot identifies and documents the individual car; its photographs remain source links rather than hosted assets because reuse rights are not established.
These linked sources help identify the individual car, but reuse is not cleared. Joyride does not host or extract them; the chassis caveat in the story still applies.