As most auto reviewers are men, I’m guessing I’m the only reviewer who considered it fitting that I got to drive the 2011 Jag XJL the week Prince William and his new princess got married.

It was a wonderful week: Non-stop princess fashion, gossip and royal wedding play-by-plays AND I got to drive around in a British luxury sedan.

I rounded out my short and imaginary spring tour of Europe with the 2011 BMW 740i a few weeks later — minus a German princess to emulate.

Not a bad month to be an auto reviewer,

Both of these luxury sedans were standouts, in a class of, well, standouts.

Family Jewels

Both the 7 Series BMWs and the Jag XJ sedans are good choices for those looking for family sedans in the luxury car category.

Both models I drove were the “long” models, which offer a little more legroom than the standard sedan in their respective lineups. Rear passengers get about 5 more inches than in the “regular” 7 series and XJ sedans. The BMW 7 series offers a footrest to rear passengers and there’s still plenty of room for your feet, bags and other kid paraphernalia.

Both sedans have a platform length of about 205 inches, but the XJL has about 5 more inches of cargo room, when all the seats are up.

The rear shades in both the Beemer and the XJL were handy and trunk space was cavernous in both cars.

Euro Style

Both the 740Li and the XJL had a distinctive feel, that made them drive differently from even the most luxurious American and Asian vehicles. It’s hard to describe, but the vehicles of European genesis really do seem to have a craftsmanship and attention to detail their counterparts can’t quite attain.

The interior of the Jag XJL wins for most elegant and refined. Everything about the interior is meant to make your life easier. A spotlight feature makes the light around the speed at which you’re traveling more intense and easier to see; when the navigation system is providing directions, you’ll find a redundant display featured in the top third of the virtual instrument cluster; Jaguar’s trademark circle gear shifter,

silently rises from a flat position in the center console when the start button is pressed

You can even get a massage in the front seats for gosh-sake!

The BMW 740Li was no less luxurious, but the Beemer is less plush and more hip and modern. It’s outfitted for a more sporty drive.

The seats aren’t as puffy as in the Jag, but the leather is of the highest grade and a lot of ergonomic engineering has gone on to make the BMW seats superbly comfortable.

Leather and wood accents adorn every visible surface and the BMW 7 series is equipped with every techno-gadget in the BMW treasure chest — including a much-improved i-Drive system.

You can get probably just as many luxurious extras in the 7 series as in the Xjs, but everything seems to have a slightly more utilitarian and practical feel to it in the Beemer.

Probably because the Beemer has put the emphasis on the dynamic handling and sporty feel, rather than the sinkablity factor in the seats

Tale of two Drives

If you’re in the enviable position of actually having to choose between buying a BMW 7 series sedan or the Jag XJ, I imagine it’s like choosing which haute couture dress to wear or which supermodel to date: Can you really go wrong?

I’ll help you out here and tell you the biggest difference between these two cars is how they drive and what’s under the hood. And one isn’t necessarily better, they’re just different.

The Jag XJ offers three engines and all are direct-injection mills coming from the 5.0-liter AJ-V8 Gen III engine.

Jaguar’s base offering is a naturally-aspirated engine producing 385 horsepower and 380 lb-ft. of torque. Next up is the Supercharged choice which has a 5.0-liter engine with 470 ponies and 424 lb-ft. of torque. The top-of-the-line special-order Supersport XJ Supercharged model, makes 510 hp and 461 lb-ft. of torque.

My test vehicle had the Supercharged engine and paired with the well-tuned suspension and wide rubber stance, this car drove smooth as butter, but with a definite dynamic handling you don’t usually get paired with such a large and heavy car. But the most sporty drive is definitely in the BMW 7 series.

The variety of engine choices for the 7 series starts with a base 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-6 that produces 315 hp and 330 pound-feet of torque in the 740s. As with the 750, a six-speed automatic transmission is standard along with driver-adjustable settings for the throttle, transmission programming, steering, suspension and stability control intervention. Rear-wheel drive is standard.

Next up is a .4-liter twin-turbo V8 that produces 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque in the 750s.

The BMW 760Li gets a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 good for 535 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque. An eight-speed automatic and rear-wheel drive are standard. According to BMW, it goes from zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds.

I had the “baby” of the bunch, the 740Li and did not miss having the more powerful engines for one moment.

The sharp steering, the fantastic braking, and the sublime body control were all present in the less expensive car of the 7 series line-up.

Cars test driven were the XJL Supercharged Jag at $93,000 and the BMW 740Li with a price tag of about $87,000.