It was first used on the 25th November 1762, by King George III, to open Parliament. It had been ordered by the King to replace the older state carriages. The framework of the carriage’s body consists of eight palm trees which, branching at their tops, support the roof. The four corner trees, each rising from a lion’s head, are loaded with trophies symbolising the victories of Great Britain in the Seven Years War that ended just after the coach was completed. The body is slung by braces covered in morocco leather and ornamented with guilt buckles held by four tritons. The two front figures draw the coach and they proclaim the approach of the Monarch of the Ocean through conches used as horns. The rear figures carry the Imperial fasces topped with tridents.
The magnificent coach is gilded all over. It is 24 feet long, 8 feet 3 inches wide, and 12 feet high; the pole is 12 feet 4 inches long and the total weight is 4 tons. The harness, originally made by Ringstead, is of rich red morocco leather. The State Coach is adorned on the sides, front and back with panels painted by Giovanni Battista Cipriani, a Florentine historical painter and engraver who came to London in 1755.
The coach has been used for every Coronation since that of King George IV and until recent years was generally used when the sovereign went in person to open the new session of Parliament. Queen Victoria, however, only opened Parliament seven times after the Prince Consort’s death in 1861, and she did not use the Gold State Coach. It is thought that in 1977 it was the first time the coach travelled to St. Paul’s Cathedral. The coach can only proceed at the walk and not at the trot and it takes eight postillion horses to pull it, since King Edward VII ordered the box to be removed so that it would allow more people to see the sovereigns.
