This week I was present at a reception in Westminster Hall at which Members of Parliament and Palace of Westminster staff were honoured to be joined by Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort.
The 17th century Speaker’s State Coach, used in the Coronations of Her Late Majesty, her father and grandfather, was on display in Westminster Hall for Their Majesties to view, and will be returning for the wider public to view later this month.
The current Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has provided some of the history of the coach:
"The ornately carved and gilded coach is thought to have been made for King William III and Queen Mary II in the 1690s. William’s successor, Queen Anne, is believed to have presented it to the then Speaker. Generations of The Speakers' predecessors used it for royal events, including Coronation and Jubilee processions, and the short journey from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey.
The coach was on display in Westminster Hall from 1995 until 2005, when Speaker Michael Martin decided to protect it as an historic object and a major conservation project restored it to its former glory. In 2011, it was loaned to the National Trust's Carriage Museum in Devon. It is now preserved as a unique work of art in the Parliamentary Art Collection.
The Speaker’s State Coach is a rare example of 17th century coach design and is one of only a handful surviving in Europe from this period. It is thought to have been made for King William III and Queen Mary II in the 1690s. It is the oldest of three great ceremonial coaches in Britain, the others being the Royal Gold State Coach and the Lord Mayor’s Coach.
Around 1700, it is thought that the coach was presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons by Queen Anne. Early records of the coach are scarce, and the first mention is by Speaker Abbott in 1802, who paid his predecessor Speaker Mitford (Lord Redesdale) £1,060 for the State Coach.
The coach was used to transport the Speaker of the House of Commons to formal state occasions, such as Coronations and Jubilees. The last use of the coach was by Speaker Thomas at the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981."
In a Coronation parade in which many coaches will be taking part, it is very exciting to be able to get up close to such a beautiful vehicle which has such a long and celebrated history.
