Stars in Green Oval Cars

The Defender is more than an icon, it’s fit for the Queen… in fact the Land Rover marque in general is popular with celebs the world over as Louise Woodhams discovers.

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"In a society where everything defines us – our accents, where we live, how we dress, what we do – a Defender is classless and I like that. People can’t look at you and say ‘ooo get you with your Land Rover’ – it’s not like a Bentley or a BMW.” Wise words indeed… It was something that Ben Fogle said tome when we photographed his Icon 90 soft top back in February for the April issue, and the classless observation is no doubt one you’ve heard before, whether it’s from a motoring journalist or a Defender owner.

And that’s because it is a vehicle that has a certain ambiguity to it – a Defender can look at home whether it’s in Chelsea, the middle of a war zone, on safari or in a farmer’s field, and the versatility of the model makes it popular with a range of people. It can be anything, and it can do anything –more importantly it states both everything and nothing about the person driving it. The Defender will not do anything to reveal your exact identity, which is probably why it is a favourite among celebrities.

For those that don’t mind the fact it’s under powered, heavy, softly sprung and lacking in creature comforts it’s the perfect statement of understated cool. And for those that do, well, they probably also have a Porsche sitting in the garage. The most notable association with the Defender is probably Queen Elizabeth, and dates back to 1951 when as a princess she stood in an open top Series I to present theKing’s colour to the Royal Air Force at a parade in Hyde Park. Nowadays, the Queen’s more known for her Bronze Green 110 Defender that she uses around her estate in Sandringham, west Norfolk.