By 1991 Princess Diana was probably the most famous person in the world, a world which was beginning to learn of troubles in her marriage with Prince Charles. She was recognised not just as a beautiful woman, but the worlds most glamorous young mother and a future Queen of England. Diana was also known as a lady that cherished her performance cars. The press loved to catch photos of her out in her custom ordered British Racing Green Jaguar XJ-SC V12, often with her two young princes occupying the specially made rear seats, and usually with her security guard relegated to the passenger seat so she could drive herself. By September 1990, Prince William had started boarding school and was already too big for the back seat of the Jaguar.

The Prince and Princess of Wales went on a Royal tour of Canada in October 1991, the press had captured photos of the the unhappy Princess, it was becoming clear the couple were having problems with an unhappy Diana looking extremely uncomfortable at times while accompanying the Prince. So, it’s not so surprising then, that on her return, Diana went against Royal protocol and caused a huge controversy when she traded her Jaguar XJ-SC, for a metallic red Mercedes-Benz R129 SL500 it was delivered to her in December 1991, making her the first member of the Royal family to drive a foreign car privately.

Buckingham Palace said that the Princess's new $130,000, two-seat Mercedes-Benz 500SL was being leased "for her personal use." News reports stated the Palace confirmed that the Princess would continue to use a Jaguar sedan for official occasions. However, in response to ongoing criticism from some government ministers, and trade unions leaders, Diana eventually, reluctantly, returned her comfortable and powerful sports car back to Germany in September 1992.

Designed in 1984, the SL was launched at the 1989 Geneva motor show. It was the successor to the very successful R107 series, which had a 16 year run from 1973 to 1989, so the new R129 had major shoes to fill. It’s designer Bruno Sacco knew that he had an immense task to keep Mercedes-Benz sports car enthusiasts interested enough to place orders for his new car. His “vertical affinity” approach to design called for cars that wouldn’t be made immediately obsolete by their successors, but he still wanted each generation of SL to stand alone. This was the fourth generation of the SL, and remained in production from its launch in 1989 until 2001. Arguably, it was one of the most individual and impressive SL’s and Diana’s one year of ownership certainly bought lots of positive attention to the R129. Diana’s famous car now resides in Mercedes-Benz museum, parked next to the Mercedes-Benz Popemobile. 

Registration Mark: J548LRP

Owner: The Mercedes-Benz Museum