The newly coronated King Charles III has greeted his subjects while travelling in a golden coach originally built in the 18th century.
King Charles III was joined by his wife, Queen Camilla, in greeting his subjects from the Gold State Coach, a 4-ton coach made of wood and coated in gold leaf built in 1762 while flanked by members of the armed forces from the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations.
Likely a special moment for many Britons, it may be one experience Charles might actually want to forget, with the late Queen Elizabeth II describing her experience travelling in the coach to and from Westminster Abbey for her 1953 coronation as “horrible”.
According to The Telegraph, the visually impressive carriage — though immaculately maintained — shows its age in other ways, with its abundance of golden statues and velvet and satin upholstery doing nothing to render the ride bearable, with the construction only boasting suspension made of leather strips.
Perhaps the King will forgive the vehicle its rather stiff ride however, with the gold-coated construction ultimately being the second-oldest working coach in the country, only beaten out by another royal carriage — the Speaker’s State Coach — which was built in the 17th century.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 06: King Charles III and Queen Camilla travelling in the Gold State Coach built in 1760 and used at every Coronation since that of William IV in 1831sets off from Westminster Abbey on route to Buckingham Palace during the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 06, 2023 in London, England. The Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms takes place at Westminster Abbey today. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 06: King Charles III and Queen Camilla travelling in the Gold State Coach built in 1760 and used at every Coronation since that of William IV in 1831sets off from Westminster Abbey on route to Buckingham Palace during the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 06, 2023 in London, England. The Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms takes place at Westminster Abbey today. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 06: The Gold State Coach built in 1760 used at every Coronation since that of William IV in 1831 set off ready from Westminster Abbey on route to Buckingham Palace during the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 06, 2023 in London, England. The Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms takes place at Westminster Abbey today. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 05: The Gold State Coach during the Platinum Pageant on The Mall on June 5, 2022 in London, England. The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II is being celebrated from June 2 to June 5, 2022, in the UK and Commonwealth to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 06: A general view of the Gold State Coach, at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace on May 6, 2022 in London, England. The coach will be used as part of Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski – Pool / Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 06: A general view of the Gold State Coach, at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace on May 6, 2022 in London, England. The coach will be used as part of Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski – Pool / Getty Images)
Unlike his late mother, however, Charles appears to have taken this issue into account, with his procession length being dramatically cut down compared to the route taken by Elizabeth in the 1950s, with the royals’ journey to the church being undertaken not in the Gold State Coach, but a far newer carriage built in Australia in 2012.
What the Diamond Jubilee Coach lacks in age and a lower amount of golden coating it makes up for in basically every other way, with the 21st-century vehicle boasting air conditioning, a heating system, electric windows and — perhaps most importantly — a hydraulic suspension system.
The Diamond Jubilee State Coach on display at the Royal Mews in Buckingham Palace, London, ahead of King Charles III’s Coronation on May 6. The King and Queen Consort will travel to the coronation in the modern Diamond Jubilee State Coach and return in the historic Gold State Coach. Picture date: Tuesday April 4, 2023. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
The Diamond Jubilee State Coach on display at the Royal Mews in Buckingham Palace, London, ahead of King Charles III’s Coronation on May 6. The King and Queen Consort will travel to the coronation in the modern Diamond Jubilee State Coach and return in the historic Gold State Coach. Picture date: Tuesday April 4, 2023. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
King Charles’ use of the coach can also be justified as an attempt to bring part of the Commonwealth into the ceremony, a loose confederation of countries, most of which are former client states to the United Kingdom from the time of the British Empire.
At least two nations from within this grouping have threatened to dump Charles as head of state in recent days, with the royal likely having a tough time ahead of him if he wants to keep the organisation together.