The conveyance of royalty, whether to Balmoral or Buffalo, by Rolls Royce or Canadian Pacific train, has its own mysterious traditions and protocols. With dry humour and a keen sense of history, Peter Pigott describes how the British royal family has adapted to technological innovations. Organized thematically, the book is packed with well-researched details. We know all about the royal family’s lives, especially their romances and scandals, but do we know who was the first monarch to drive a motorcar? The first to fly in an aircraft? Which king so loved his yacht that he ordered it scuttled on his death?

Royal Transport is a fascinating look at how British royalty has travelled since the invention of steam. This richly illustrated book covers all modes of royal transport in Britain and the Commonwealth - some of the most famous and yet unknown transport in the world.

As the son of an airline employee, Peter Pigott grew up at the edge of airports around the world, including Santa Cruz, Bombay, London and Montreal. He attended the University of Montreal Teacher's College (B.Ed.) and Loyola College in Montreal (B.A.). and then went on to receive a M.A. from the University of Vermont in Burlington USA and a diploma in history at Oxford University in England.

Pigott joined the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1978 and has served at embassies in New York, Hong Kong, Vienna and The Hague. He returned to Ottawa in 1993 and began his writing career, specializing in books about aviation.

Also by Peter Pigott: The Official History of Aviation in Hong Kong, Flying Canucks! Famous Canadian Aviators, Hong Kong Rising: The History of a Remarkable Place, Gateways: Airports of Canada, Flying Colours: Commercial Aviation in Canada, Flying Canucks II: Famous Canadian Aviators

Peter Pigott's profile page

"An eye-catching reference book packed with enough facts and specifications to satisfy the technophile and richly illustrated with rare archival photos of 150 years of royal travel through the Commonwealth, this book is a fitting historical account of the technological development and advancement of transport through the last century. An interesting study not only of transportation but also its patrons.

Canada Post, April 2006