The Royal Mews

When Rachel and I reached the area of Buckingham Palace, we first came upon the Royal Mews. I wanted to check out the price for going in, so we stepped into the area where you buy tickets and checked. It was more that either of us wanted to spend, so we headed back out. On our way out, we met a family of four coming in. When they found out we weren't going in, the father gave us one of their tickets, not only to the Mews, but also to the Queen's Art Gallery.

Apparently, they had purchased a family pack - a set of 5 tickets - and where only using 4, so gave the extras to us! I was going to split the cost of purchasing the extra ticket, but Rachel chose not to go in, so I took the free ticket and visited the Mews.

It was pretty amazing. They had all the carriages of State that are used for different occasions and in different regions. I won't put them all up here, but I will show you the most impressive.


First, this is the only live horse I saw while there. They Royal family does have more, but they weren't here, for whatever reason.

And here it is. This is the carriage used when the new monarch is crowned, and to celebrate the 25th and the 50th year of the reign. This isn't the clearest shot, but it gives you the overall view of the carriage.

When they use it, they actually use 8 horses. The horses have to be trained for serveral months, or even years, to be able to pull this carriage. The carriage weighs 4,000lbs. It is covered in 4 layers of 20 caret gold leaf and has paintings all around it.


Here is a close up of what the horse and rider looks like. Just the tack (I believe that is what it is called - I'm not a horse woman) weighs over a 100lbs. Then there is the weight of the man riding the horse. Finally, you have the carriage itself. With all of that, you begin to understand why it takes so long to train the horses for this occasion. And then the pace is only a walk.


Here is a little closer view of the carriage with the tour guide that was telling us about it.
The carriage was commissioned by one of the kings in the 1700s, I believe. I don't remember his name. One of the dukes of that time had commissioned a fantastic carriage which resulted in making the king jealous. After all, one of the lowly members of the peerage can't have a carriage fancier that what the king owns, right? So, this was commissioned.

In this picture, you can see the leather straps which make up the suspension for this carriage. They're in the back and in the front - dark brown/burgandy. Not much for suspension. In fact, one of the later kings, when he was carried in this to his coronation, said it was the roughest ride he had ever experience. And he had served several years in the Navy!

Queen Victoria, after her first trip in it, refused to ever ride in it again

This is the other side and provides another view of the "suspension".