Visit by HRH Princess Anne to Reliant





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	The visit of HRH Princess Anne on 15th July 1975

No doubt one of the main highlights of thr Reliant Motor Company was a visit made by HRH Princess Anne on 15th July 1975. Being an owner of several Reliant Scimitars, HRH was most interested in visiting Reliant to see how the vehicles were assembled.

Thanks to the RMC archives we can tell that the day was oraganised with military precision with every moment accounted for to guide HRH across all three Reliant sites with the tour taking in the assembly plant at Two Gates, the glass fibre moulding factory at Kettlebrook and then the engine and gearbox plan at Shenstone eight miles away.. The itinerary for the day records the Princess arriving at approximately 11:15am and then visiting the Two Gates site first. The day was organised as such:

11.15 (approx.)	Arrival at Two Gates works, Reception party - 25 -30 persons.
11.30 = 12.20	Tour Two Gates works. Paint and Assembly of Robin and Scimitar cars
12.20 - 12.40	Reception - Directors, Managers, Senior Stewards (45-50 persons)
12.40 - 12.50	Retire
12.50 - 1.40	Lunch - cold table (10 - 12 persons)
1.40 - 1.45	Retire
1.45 - 1.55	Reception - Administrative staff and others (200 - 250 persons)
1.55 - 2.00	To Car. Employees families in car park (600 - 1000 people).
2.00	Leave for Kettlebrook
2.05 - 2.35	Tour Kettlebrook, Glass fibre body production
2.35 - 2.45	Reception - Staff and others (30 - 60 persons).
2.45	Leave for Shenstone
3.05 - 3.15	Reception - Staff and others (30 - 60 persons)
3.45	Tea
4.00 - 4.15	Departure.




	Reliant Press Release detailing the Royal visit (click image to view)


	To help plan the day Reliant also drew up a map of each location and plotted the route the tour would take across each site, along with the timings of the visit and indeed where about the cars would be parked at each location. Click each map to view the full document.




	Route off Two Gates tour




	Route off Kettlebrook tour


	The archive also reveals the menu for a day and that the menu had a picture of a Scimitar bade on the front along with an image of HRH’s personal Scimitar. What does a Royal Reliant lunch consist of? The following was served on the day:

Melon with Parma Ham

Salmon is Aspic

Green Salad New Potatoes

Soufflé Surprise

Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Kabinett 1970 Ruwer - Estate Bottled




	The whole event was filmed by the Reliant Cine Club which shoes the Princess visiting each site.

Following the final tour of the Shenstone site, HRH Princess Anne left Reliant at around 4:15pm leaving behind a very positive impact on the workforce.

Luckily for posterity the whole event was not only captured by numerous journalist who were invited to the event but it was also filmed in colour by the Reliant Cine Club . Whilst this was initially an internal film for Reliant, the company released a Royal Supplement to its Reliant Review newspaper that also captures the day and a number of the stories that were shared between Reliant workers and the Princess.




			Route off Shenstone tour



			Canteen details and meal locations



	Reliant also released a special supplement to their Reliant Review newspaper with Royal Supplement that features many photos from the day (click image to view)

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