Queen Elizabeth Scared a Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah while Driving Him Around Scotland

Queen Elizabeth II has always been known as a car enthusiast. However, once her obsession could almost cost Britain international relations.

In 2003, then-Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah visited the Queen in the United Kingdom, and she invited him for a ride around Scotland. The Prince got into the passenger seat and his interpreter into the back seat. To the noble’s surprise, Elizabeth II hopped into the driver’s position and immediately started the engine.

At the time, such a gesture was an open criticism of Saudi Arabia’s law prohibiting women from driving.

Abdullah was very nervous the whole trip, and when the Queen tried conversing with him, he implored her to slow down and concentrate on the road ahead. So the clever monarch spent an afternoon hazing foreign representative.