Prince Charles Had A Healey?

[HealeyRick]

Never saw any info that the Prince of Wales owned a Healey, though he did own an MGB. But this 91 year-old's memory seems pretty specific:

“I made a mental list and I had over 50 celebrities that I became friends with,” she says. “Ronald Reagan was in and out of my house because I sponsored a lot of coffees for him when he was running for governor.”
Others were chance meetings, like President John F. Kennedy and England’s Prince Charles. She loved Kennedy’s smile and the prince was “charming.”
She bumped into the prince while attending horseraces at England’s Ascot Racecourse, where she met Queen Elizabeth and sat in the royal enclosure there. During the races, McCormick left the queen’s enclosure to find a restroom and was nearly run down by a speeding Austin-Healey.
“The young man got out and apologized,” she says. “It was Prince Charles.”

https://www.thespectrum.com/story/l...ident-recounts-celebrity-encounters/24815849/

 

[Barefoot]

I have this vague memory that Prince Charles had an MGC

 

[HealeyRick]

I have this vague memory that Prince Charles had an MGC

My bad, it was a MGC-GT

It's now being used by Price William:

 

[GregW]

Hey Rick,
That second photo looks more like an MGB GT V8. The C has a hood bulge over the carbs on the left side of the car. Hard for me to tell if the first photo has the same configuration.

P.S. I'm no expert on my ABC's

 

[HealeyRick]

The top car with Prince Charles getting out is supposed to be the same car as the bottom one, identified as an MGC - https://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/bh08.htm

The B-V8 had a flat bonnet:

Of course, I could be all wrong.

 

[GregW]

I went on a photo journey and I'll say you're right Rick.

 

[Randy Forbes]

That was a very good read, Rick; thanks for posting the link!

I don't doubt that PC had a Healey, though I've never seen pictures to back it up. I do recall a picture of him in an MGC Tourer though, in one of my many MG Marque books, the author claiming it was his, so maybe he's had both (or they were merely photo-ops...).

I hope my memory is as good as McCormick's in another thirty (>30) years! My father in his nineties could remember everything (EVERYTHING!) but his body fell apart__just worn out. My Mother on the other hand, was ALWAYS in terrific health physically, but her memory steadily declined.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

That was a very good read, Rick; thanks for posting the link!

I don't doubt that PC had a Healey, though I've never seen pictures to back it up. I do recall a picture of him in an MGC Tourer though, in one of my many MG Marque books, the author claiming it was his, so maybe he's had both (or they were merely photo-ops...).

I hope my memory is as good as McCormick's in another thirty (>30) years! My father in his nineties could remember everything (EVERYTHING!) but his body fell apart__just worn out. My Mother on the other hand, was ALWAYS in terrific health physically, but her memory steadily declined.

Maybe he didn't own a Healey, but let's not discount PC borrowing a Healey for a "joy ride"? Just a thought.