symbolic meaning in Scotland and Wales. All three collections of treasures
can be viewed today in their different locations - the Tower of London,
Edinburgh Castle and the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.
TRANSPORT
The Queen's State and private motor cars are housed in the Royal Mews.
For official duties - providing transport for State and other visitors as
well as The Queen herself - there are nine State limousines, consisting of
one Bentley, five Rolls-Royces and three Daimlers. They are painted in
Royal maroon livery and the Bentley and Rolls-Royces uniquely do not have
registration number plates. Other vehicles include a number of Vauxhall
Sintra 'people carriers'.
The most recent State car, which is used for most of The Queen's
engagements, is a State Bentley presented to The Queen to mark her Golden
Jubilee in 2002. The one-off model, conceived by a Bentley-led consortium
of British motor industry manufacturers and suppliers, is the first Bentley
to be used for State occasions. It was designed with input from The Queen,
The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Majesty's Head Chauffeur.
In technical terms, the car has a monocoque construction, enabling
greater use to be made of the vehicle's interior space. This means the
transmission tunnel now runs underneath the floor, without encroaching on
the cabin and has enabled the stylists to work with a lowered roofline
whilst preserving the required interior height. The rear doors have been
redesigned enabling The Queen to stand up straight before stepping down to
the ground. The rear seats are upholstered in Hield Lambswool Sateen cloth
whilst all remaining upholstery is in light grey Connolly hide. Carpets are
pale blue in the rear and dark blue in the front.
A Rolls-Royce Phantom VI was presented to The Queen in 1978 for her
Silver Jubilee by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The
oldest car in the fleet is the Phantom IV, built in 1950, 5.76 litre with a
straight eight engine and a Mulliner body. There is also a 1987 Phantom VI
and two identical Phantom V models built in the early 1960s. The 1978
Phantom VI and the two Phantom V models have a removable exterior roof
covering, which exposes an inner lining of perspex, giving a clear view of
passengers.
All the cars have fittings for the shield bearing the Royal Coat of Arms
and the Royal Standard. The Queen has her own mascot for use on official
cars. Designed for her by the artist Edward Seago in the form of St George
on a horse poised victorious over a slain dragon, it is made of silver and
can be transferred from car to car as necessary. The Duke of Edinburgh's
mascot, a heraldic lion wearing a crown, is adapted from his arms.
For her private use The Queen drives a Daimler Jaguar saloon or a
Vauxhall estate (like every other qualified driver, The Queen holds a
driving licence). The Duke of Edinburgh has a Range Rover and, for short
journeys round London, uses a Metrocab. The private cars are painted
Edinburgh green.
A number of Royal Mews vehicles have now been converted to run on
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - a more environmentally friendly fuel than
petrol or diesel. Converted vehicles include one of the Rolls-Royce Phantom
IVs, a Daimler and The Duke of Edinburgh's Metrocab.
CARS
The Queen's State and private motor cars are housed in the Royal Mews.
For official duties - providing transport for State and other visitors as
well as The Queen herself - there are nine State limousines, consisting of
one Bentley, five Rolls-Royces and three Daimlers. They are painted in
Royal maroon livery and the Bentley and Rolls-Royces uniquely do not have
registration number plates. Other vehicles include a number of Vauxhall
Sintra 'people carriers'.
The most recent State car, which is used for most of The Queen's
engagements, is a State Bentley presented to The Queen to mark her Golden
Jubilee in 2002. The one-off model, conceived by a Bentley-led consortium
of British motor industry manufacturers and suppliers, is the first Bentley
to be used for State occasions. It was designed with input from The Queen,
The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Majesty's Head Chauffeur.
In technical terms, the car has a monocoque construction, enabling
greater use to be made of the vehicle's interior space. This means the
transmission tunnel now runs underneath the floor, without encroaching on
the cabin and has enabled the stylists to work with a lowered roofline
whilst preserving the required interior height. The rear doors have been
redesigned enabling The Queen to stand up straight before stepping down to
the ground. The rear seats are upholstered in Hield Lambswool Sateen cloth
whilst all remaining upholstery is in light grey Connolly hide. Carpets are
pale blue in the rear and dark blue in the front.
A Rolls-Royce Phantom VI was presented to The Queen in 1978 for her
Silver Jubilee by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The
oldest car in the fleet is the Phantom IV, built in 1950, 5.76 litre with a
straight eight engine and a Mulliner body. There is also a 1987 Phantom VI
and two identical Phantom V models built in the early 1960s. The 1978
Phantom VI and the two Phantom V models have a removable exterior roof
covering, which exposes an inner lining of perspex, giving a clear view of
passengers.
All the cars have fittings for the shield bearing the Royal Coat of Arms
and the Royal Standard. The Queen has her own mascot for use on official
cars. Designed for her by the artist Edward Seago in the form of St George
on a horse poised victorious over a slain dragon, it is made of silver and
can be transferred from car to car as necessary. The Duke of Edinburgh's
mascot, a heraldic lion wearing a crown, is adapted from his arms.
For her private use The Queen drives a Daimler Jaguar saloon or a
Vauxhall estate (like every other qualified driver, The Queen holds a
driving licence). The Duke of Edinburgh has a Range Rover and, for short
journeys round London, uses a Metrocab. The private cars are painted
Edinburgh green.
A number of Royal Mews vehicles have now been converted to run on
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - a more environmentally friendly fuel than
petrol or diesel. Converted vehicles include one of the Rolls-Royce Phantom
IVs, a Daimler and The Duke of Edinburgh's Metrocab.
CARRIAGES
Housed in the Royal Mews is the collection of historic carriages and
coaches, most of which are still in use to convey members of the Royal
family in State ceremonial processions or on other royal occasions.
The oldest coach is the Gold State Coach, first used by George III when
he opened Parliament in 1762 and used for every coronation since George
IV's in 1821. As its name implies, it is gilded all over and the exterior
is decorated with painted panels. It weighs four tons and requires eight
horses to pull it.
The coach now used by The Queen at the State Opening of Parliament is
known as the Irish State Coach because the original was built in 1851 by
the Lord Mayor of Dublin, who was also a coachbuilder. Although extensively
damaged by fire in 1911, the existing coach was completely restored in 1989
by the Royal Mews carriage restorers, who stripped the coach to the bare
wood and applied twenty coats of paint, including gilding and varnishing.
The exterior is blue and black with gilt decoration and the interior is
covered in blue damask. It is normally driven from the box seat using four
horses.
Other coaches include the Scottish State Coach (built in 1830 and used
for Scottish and English processions), Queen Alexandra's State Coach (used
to convey the Imperial State Crown to Parliament for the State Opening),
the 1902 State Landau, the Australian State Coach (presented to The Queen
in 1988 by the Australian people to mark Australia's bicentenary), the
Glass Coach (built in 1881 and used for royal weddings) and the State and
Semi-State Landaus (used in State processions).
In addition there are two barouches, broughams (which every day carry
messengers on their official rounds in London), Queen Victoria's Ivory-
Mounted Phaeton (used by The Queen since 1987 for her Birthday Parade) as
well as a number of other carriages. In all, there are over 100 coaches and
carriages in the Royal Collection.
All the carriages and coaches are maintained by craftsmen in the Royal
Mews department and some of the coaches and carriages can be viewed on days
when the Royal Mews is open to the public.
THE ROYAL TRAIN
Modern Royal Train vehicles came into operation in 1977 with the
introduction of four new saloons to mark The Queen's Silver Jubilee. This
continued a service which originated on 13 June, 1842, when the engine
Phlegethon, pulling the royal saloon and six other carriages, transported
Queen Victoria from Slough to Paddington. The journey took 25 minutes.
It is perhaps somewhat misleading to talk of 'the Royal Train' because
the modern train consists of carriages drawn from a total of eight purpose-
built saloons, pulled by one of the two Royal Class 47 diesel locomotives,
Prince William or Prince Henry. The exact number and combination of
carriages forming a Royal Train is determined by factors such as which
member of the Royal family is travelling and the time and duration of the
journey. When not pulling the Royal Train, the two locomotives are used for
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