If you thought the royals were really ‘just like us’, then perhaps you hadn’t heard that Prince Charles’ car runs on wine and cheese.

The vintage sportscar was a present from Queen Elizabeth for his 21st birthday. Being passionate about environmental causes, the Prince of Wales had the car coverted to run on bioethanol made from “surplus English white wine and whey from the cheese process”.

Prince Charles said the vehicle runs better and is more powerful on biofuel than petrol. “And also, it smells delicious as you’re driving along.”

Wine can be made into fuel by boiling off the alcohol and removing the water, which results in almost pure ethanol.

The admission was made ahead of the upcoming COP26 summit, where Prince Charles called for ambitious action on the climate crisis rather than “just talk”.

If you don’t like the idea of your car guzzling all your cheese and wine, Prince Charles has also had the Queen’s Royal Train retrofitted to run on (not tea and scones, but) vegetable oil.

Related recipes: Buckingham Palace shares Her Majesty’s favourite Victoria sponge cake recipe