The Duke of Edinburgh specifically requested to visit the site and was guided on a comprehensive tour of the facilities by the company's chairman David Richards.

He met 2003 world rally champion Petter Solberg, who drives the Prodrive-built Subaru Impreza in the championship, and spoke with several members of staff during his stay, but the highlight was a demonstration pit-stop on an Aston Martin GT car.

The Duke politely turned down an offer to sit in the car, recalling an incident during a previous visit to McLaren's headquarters when he accepted such an invitation only to get stuck in the seat.

Mr Richards, speaking to the Banbury Guardian, said it was an honour to welcome him to the site.

"He was very interested to hear all about all the aspects of the business," he said.

"We introduced him to Petter Solberg and then focused on the rallying for a while."

Mr Richards added: "He was quite surprised at the performance of the car in the pit-stop and was very enthusiastic throughout the visit.

"It was a real honour that he asked to come here, it's good to know that motorsport in this country continues to attract attention and that someone like him is genuinely interested in what we do."

The Duke began his visit in the company's heritage centre, where he viewed a range of Prodrive's most successful vehicles over the years, before moving on to the manufacturing areas of the site and ending in the rally workshop, where final preparations for the upcoming Wales Rally GB were under way.

He spoke with staff in each department he saw, including engine builder Luke Ansley, who has been with the company since starting as an apprentice 12 years ago.

"He asked about how much it all was and what the differences are between a standard engine and this one," said Mr Ansley.

"I had a couple of days warning that I would be speaking to him but it wasn't that bad, he was a nice guy and I didn't feel that nervous really."

Production manager David Eszenyi also spoke with the Duke and was quizzed on the origins of some of the company's kit.

"He asked if the manufacturing equipment is made in Britain and I told him it was actually made in Germany," said Mr Eszenyi. "He wanted to know if any of it was made in Britain and I had to tell him the best kit comes from Japan and Germany but he didn't seem to mind too much.

"We also showed him some hand-made components rather than computer-generated ones and he was astounded by it, he couldn't believe what he was looking at could be made with bare hands, from someone's imagination."

The Duke also met Chris Poole, a transmission technician, and was shocked to hear the gearbox he was working on was worth about £70,000.

"I explained a little bit about why it is so expensive and about some of the problems it can be prone to," said Mr Poole.

"We had a bit of joke about what happens if I've finished building it and there are parts left over, he was really interested in what goes into it though and it's not every day you get to talk to someone like him."

Before leaving, Prince Philip was presented with two one-off gifts - a lightweight carbon fibre shooting seat and a set of carbon fibre stirrups, which Mr Richards suggested might be best usedby the Duke's granddaughter Zara Phillips.