Archbishop of York recalls ‘healing’ Queen’s Bentley

The Archbishop of York has revealed how he once “healed” the late Queen’s Bentley motorcar after it refused to start during hhis visit to the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.Speaking in the Lords, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell recounted how the monarch’s vehicle eventually fired up after he performed “a large sign of the cross” over it.“I see the Queen out the corner of my eye looking rather stony faced at this point and I think perhaps I’ve over-stepped the mark. Anyway, the driver tries the car again and – praise the Lord – the car started.“The Queen gets in and goes back to Sandringham. When I arrive at Sandringham as I come into lunch, the Queen with a beaming smile says, ‘Ah, bishop. It’s the bishop – he healed my car!'."The cleric added: “Two years later when I was greeting her at the west front of Chelmsford Cathedral ... she took me to one side and said, ‘Bishop, nice to see you again. I think the car’s all right today, but if I have any problems I will know where to come’.”